On The Other Side
by Aladdinboy
Summary: Flame Prince isn't doing so well. Fionna dumped him, he can't find love anywhere, and on top of that is stuck in a parallel universe! Luckily for him he meets Finn the Human. Maybe being stuck in Ooo isn't so bad after all?
1. Help Me Out

Flame Prince paced back and forth a few times on the wooden dock, shivering in the damp of the cave. Finally building up the courage, he knocked on the pale purple door. _The house looks out of place here_, he thought to himself.

"Who is it?" said a grumpy voice from behind the door.

"Erm… It's Flame Prince. I… uh… Can we talk?"

The door opened, and Marshall Lee stepped out, leaning against the door jamb. "What's up, flameboy?" he said, smirking a little.

"I hope I didn't wake you up, I didn't know if you sleep during the day or not." Flame Prince rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

Marshall shrugged. "Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Why're you here? Is Fionna with you?" He looked around the wooden dock that served as his front porch as if expecting Fionna to appear suddenly.

"Actually… That's why I'm here. I wanted to talk to you about her."

Marshall squinted at Flame Prince, curious. "OK," he said slowly. "Let's talk." He motioned for Flame Prince to follow him, and the two boys set off along the perimeter of the underground lake in the cave.

"Marshall, I know I don't know you that well, but you're good friends with Fionna." Marshall nodded silently. "I really like her and all. I mean, she's great, she saved my life and has taken care of me for a few years now, but…" He sighed. "We've been dating for almost nine months now, and lately… well, we've been butting heads a lot."

Marshall smiled. "Heh, butts. So… you two get a little 'hot under the collar'?" Flame Prince glared at him. "Right, sorry. Continue."

"Well, yesterday she said she wanted to take some time off. I think that means she's breaking up with me, but I wanted to know for certain."

Marshall nodded. "Yeah, that's what it usually means. Tough break, dude. But that's what you came all this way to ask me?"

"No, it's more than that. I just… I don't know. We've been fighting about stupid stuff, and… is that normal? I feel like it's all my fault, like I keep saying the wrong things."

"… And you want to know if you're to blame?" Flame Prince nodded sadly. "Look, dude, when people fight, there's not really one side that's right or wrong, it's just two people disagreeing. Man, I sound like Cake. Erm… Why ask me, by the way? Why didn't you ask Cake or Gumball or someone else?" Marshall looked at Flame Prince curiously.

Flame Prince rubbed his eyes, which were slightly bloodshot. "Prince Gumball and I don't exactly get along. And Cake is too involved. You seemed like someone who knows Fionna well enough to have a good perspective, but is still somewhat objective."

Marshall Lee whistled, impressed. "You've really only been speaking English for four years? Man, you're a fast learner."

"Thanks."

"So what do you guys fight about?" Flame Prince winced a little, the memories obviously still fresh and painful. The two boys had arrived at a rocky cliff on the far side of the lake, and Flame Prince climbed up and sat on a large boulder, his feet dangling over the water.

"Sometimes she asks me these questions, questions that I don't know how to answer. Like, 'does this skirt look good on me', or 'what do you think of my pancakes', or 'do you think I should get a new sword'. And I…" He trailed off, looking out over the shiny water.

"Yes?"

"Well, sometimes I tell her the truth, and sometimes I lie. Like, when she asks me if I like her clothing, I usually say yes, even if I don't like it." Marshall scratched his bite marks absentmindedly, thinking. "And she usually finds out, then gets all mad at me for lying to her. But then sometimes she'll ask, and I'll tell her the truth, and it hurts her feelings. It's like a no-win situation."

Marshall nodded. "Yeah, girls do that."

"But then I feel bad, because Fionna saved me, she took me in and taught me how to talk and read and everything, and… I don't know. Sometimes I just feel like a burden. It would make her life so much easier if I was gone." He slid forward a little, his feet dangling closer to the water.

"No no, Flameface. No jumping in the water." Marshall flew around to face Flame Prince. "Look, Fionna's not perfect. No one is. And maybe Fionna's just not the right person for you. Have you thought of that? There's a whole world out there, full of wonderful, terrible, crazy people. There's someone out there that's right for you. And you can still be Fionna's friend, even if you two aren't dating!"

"You make it sound so final."

"Well… I mean, it doesn't have to be." Marshall sighed, rubbing his neck. This was becoming very stressful. "OK, look. Do you like Fionna?" Flame Prince nodded. "As a friend?" He nodded again. "And you liked dating her?" Another nod. "Do you love her?"

Flame Prince looked across the lake, deep in thought. "I don't know. I mean, we're good friends and all, and I really like her… I wanted the chance to love her someday. I want to be loved. I just feel like I keep hurting her, and she doesn't give me second chances."

"So find someone who will."

"Where? How? Who could ever love a guy like me?"

Marshall sighed again. Then a thought occurred. "Come back to my house, I've got an idea."

* * *

Flame Prince followed Marshall into his living room, looking around with curiosity

"Stay here, I'll be right back." Marshall floated up through a small hole in the ceiling. Flame Prince assumed it must lead to the second floor. A moment later, Marshall returned, holding a small wooden box.

"What's that?"

"Something that might help you. You know how there's two kinds of magic, right?"

Flame Prince nodded. "Yeah, Fionna told me about it. Weak magic and strong magic, right?"

"Yep. This here is a strong magical object, so you have to be extremely careful with it."

"Why, what is it?"

Marshall opened the box carefully, but didn't show Flame Prince what was inside. "It's a taliform."

Flame Prince raised his eyebrows in confusion. "Say what?"

"A taliform, something that transports you to a certain destination. Like a bicycle, except much faster, and powered by magic instead of legs. Also smaller. And much more dangerous. And it can find things for you, so you don't have to know where you're going to get there. I guess it's not like a bicycle at all, really." Flame Prince nodded, still confused. "Look, it takes you to and from your true love, the person you're destined to be with." Marshall pulled something from the box and held it up for Flame Prince to see.

"It looks like a rock," he said. "It is a rock."

"So? What did you think it would look like?"

"I dunno, something more… mystical? Like an old scroll with runes on it, or a tiny machine you have to crank? I don't know, just not that!"

"Well, sorry to disappoint. I got it from my mother, it's how she ended up meeting my dad."

"OK… how does it work?"

"Simple, you squeeze it in your hand, think about loving and being loved, and it takes you to wherever your true love is. To return, just squeeze it and think about home. Easy peasy."

"I don't believe you."

Marshall smirked, and closed his eyes, squeezing the rock in his fist. There was a whooshing sound and a flash of bright light, and he disappeared. Flame Prince took a step back, looking around as if Marshall had just performed a magic trick.

"Marshall? Where'd you go?"

A moment later, there was another flash of light and Marshall returned, standing exactly where he had disappeared from moments ago. "See? Easy as pie."

Flame Prince frowned. "Why do you smell like chewing gum?"

Marshall shuffled his feet awkwardly. "Well, it took me to my true love, of course. He was showering though, so I just kissed and left."

"…He?"

"Come on, give it a go! Trust me, it's totally safe. If you're not meant to be with Fionna, this will take you to wherever you need to go. Just… don't go jumping in water. You're worth more than that."

Flame Prince swallowed nervously, then gripped the rock in his fist. It was surprisingly warm and heavy. Giving Marshall one last glance, he closed his eyes and thought about… what was it like to be truly loved? Was what he had with Fionna really love? He shivered, his eyes still closed. No, it wasn't love that defined his relation to Fionna. Flame Prince squeezed the rock a little tighter, and imagined strong, warm arms around his body, someone making soup for him on a cold winter night, a soft, happy feeling from just being near someone… There was a loud cracking sound, and the world around him disappeared.


	2. Take Me In

"Hey bro…" said Jake, rubbing Finn's back. Finn the Human sat at the dining room table, his face down on the wood surface, arms dangling at his sides. "Come on, let's go find an evil troll and slay it!"

"Mmph… nah." Finn swung his arms back and forth a little, not looking up.

"OK, then let's… Oh, let's go find a dungeon! Yeah, a dungeon crawl always cheered you up!"

Finn raised his head, looking at Jake with watery, bloodshot eyes. "I took Flame Princess on a dungeon adventure once… I think she hated it." He dropped his head down on the table with a painful sounding 'thunk'. "Ow, now my head hurts, too. I hate May 8ths."

"Look, dude, you have to get over her, you have to move on! It's been three years, you can't keep getting all moopy every year on the anniv- I mean, the day she broke up with you."

"And why not?"

"Because, bro, it's not natural! It's not right, you need to get on with your life. You can't keep sitting here bathing in your jacked-up thoughts, whacking out your melon-heart. Look, you go out and get some fresh air, bring me back some basil. I'll make some spaghetti for dinner."

Finn sniffed. "Can we have apple juice, too?"

Jake nodded. "Tree Trunk's finest!"

Finn stood, stretching his back. "Maybe a walk will help… yeah. I'll go over to the Stock Woods, there's tons of basil plants over there."

"OK, just be careful around the Mudscamps' Swamp, I think it's suppose to rain later."

"Yeah yeah… I won't melt." Finn grabbed his sword and backpack, and climbed the ladder down to the front door of the Tree Fort.

"I meant be careful you don't smooch another magic dude-prince. And wipe your shoes when you get back!"

Finn sighed as he left through the front door. "Whatever what-evs."

* * *

Flame Prince breathed in slowly. The world around him was dark, but he felt warm… hot even. Fire licked his sides, and he smiled, trying to remember where he was. The flames against his back were strange, though. They were tiny and sharp, like bendy little hot blades.

He suddenly remembered his visit to Marshall Lee's cave, and the… what was it called? The something-form? The stone that would bring him to his true love. Flame Prince slowly opened his eyes, trying to orient himself. Before him was a strange wall of smoke, seemingly frozen in place… no, not frozen, just moving very slowly. The wall must be very far away, he reasoned. He turned his head to look sideways, and found that he was standing against a wall of some sort, a furry wall…? No, it's grass! He was laying on his back, looking up at the sky.

Laughing to himself at his inability to recognize clouds, Flame Prince sat up, rubbing his hand over the toasty green grass, and pocketed the warm stone he held in his fist. He wondered briefly why the ground, and the air for that matter, was so warm, before he realized exactly where he was.

"No… no!" he groaned, standing and walking in a small, frustrated circle. He looked back up at the Tree Fort, just to make sure it really was Fionna's home. Flame Prince growled at himself. "It can't be Fionna! I won't let it be Fionna. I won't believe it." He turned, and ran away from the Tree Fort, his chest aching. Seeing her house was almost physically painful, bringing back memories of her shouting at him, their endless fights, the half-hearted making up that came after, the Cake-mandated 'dialogues' that never really resolved anything… He wished it would all go away.

After a while, his legs began to hurt. Looking around, Flame Prince realized that he was lost. He seemed to be in the middle of a bog, or maybe a marsh. Fog was rolling in from all sides, and the trees above him all looked identical and endless. He sat down on a log, removing the small orange gem that was stuck to his forehead. "A lot of good you've done me," he muttered, scratching the small pale patch on his head where the gem used to be. He looked deep into the orange stone, only half-believing the old mystic tales of Balancing Manipura. Closing his eyes and holding the gem in his hands, he breathed in slowly, then whispered to himself. "Give me the will to carry on. Provide the strength to move foreword out of this… this gunk. Send a message, something… please?"

He opened his eyes and looked down at the gem in his hands. A single drop of water splashed on the stone. Flame Prince looked up and gasped as rain began to fall. Although not as painful as it normally was, the water still stung like acid, damping his fiery hair and causing grey spots to appear on his skin wherever it landed. He stood, stuck the gem back on his forehead, and took off at a run, desperately looking for shelter.

"Hello?" he called, feebly trying to shield himself from the rain with his hand. "Please, help! Anyone!?" Thunder cracked through the swamp, and Flame Prince tripped over an outstretched root, tumbling into a large muddy puddle. The water paralyzed him, his skin going numb from pain. "Help… h-help," he called weakly. His vision dimming, he heard an echoey, distant voice and saw a blurry white and blue figure standing over him.

"I've got you…"

Flame Prince blacked out.

* * *

"Jake, get a fire going!" Finn called as he burst in through the front door of the Tree Fort, Flame Prince laying unconscious in his arms.

"Did you get the basil?" Jake asked as he stretched down to the lower level to meet Finn. "Oh glob, who's that!?"

"I don't know, I think he's a fire elemental. I found him near South Woobeewoo, he must have tripped or something. I think he's lost…" Finn looked down at Flame Prince sadly, hoping that he would be alright. His skin felt far, far too cold for a fire person, and his clothes were muddy and torn. "Start a fire in the den, we need to warm him up and dry him off."

"No probs." Jake stretched up to the upper level of the Tree Fort as Finn rubbed his hand over Flame Prince's now bald head.

"I've got you, I'll take care of you…" Finn whispered, his heart breaking. The poor guy must have been on the brink of death when Finn found him.

An hour later, Finn sat by the makeshift bed, wrapping Flame Prince in a wool blanket. His hair had reignited as soon as Jake had finished building the now roaring fire in the fire place, and his skin had gained a healthier orange glow, although he was still unconscious.

"Hey Finn…" Jake said, sipping on his mug of hot cocoa. "Now that his hair is back, does he look like that guy from Ice King's whack stories? Y'know, the ones where all the dudes are dudettes and all the dudettes are dudes?"

Finn frowned. "Yeah, he kinda does. FP's flipped character, Flame Prince. Actually… he looks exactly like him! Jake, do you think this is some sort of beefed-up prank?"

"I dunno, man. This dude looks pretty real… Besides, if Ice King was gonna pull some prank, why'd he choose such a minor character? Princey here's only been in, like, two or three stories! Plus, I don't think Ice King would even know how to pull a prank as hard-core as this."

Finn nodded, taking Flame Prince's hand in his own. "He still feels really cold. I mean, cold for a fire elemental, he's actually quite hot." Jake raised his eyebrows at Finn. "I mean, h-hot temperature-wise. Heated. He's w-warm, but more so."

Jake laughed as Finn's face blushed pink. "Dude, I know what you mean. Although, he is rather studly."

"Jake!" Finn let go of Flame Prince's hand as Jake laughed heartily, rocking back in his chair.

* * *

Flame Prince groaned, his head aching. He tried to open his eyes, but his whole body felt sluggish. Eventually, he managed to crack an eye open.

"Uh… hi?"

Flame Prince opened his other eye, searching for the voice he heard. It was masculine, yet somehow familiar. The ceiling slowly came into focus, a ceiling that was immediately familiar.

"Ughh… Fionna?" He blinked, and slowly sat up, his vision still blurry. Fionna sat in a chair next to him, leaning forward a little. _Wait, no… that couldn't be Fionna, she's taller than that._

"Jake, get him something to drink."

"Like what? We can't give him water." Another voice, this one much more masculine, and a little gravelly.

"I don't know, something flammable. Do we have any gasoline left over from that time we fixed a truck? That bio-diesel stuff?"

"I think so, let me go check." Footsteps, then a squeaking sound, like rubber being stretched, then the sound of a door being opened and shut.

"Where… what… who are you?" Flame Prince mumbled, his vision finally coming into focus. A short teenage boy, who he originally took to be Fionna, peered at him with concerned eyes.

"My name's Finn," he said. "Finn the Human. I found you in the swamp, you must have tripped when you were running from the rain."

"Am I…?"

"You're safe now." Finn smiled. Flame Prince relaxed a little. The boy dressed as Fionna had saved him, so he must be an OK person. "Um… I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's a fire elemental doing in a swamp in the middle of the rainy season?"

Flame Prince frowned, the memories coming back to him. "Oh… I was running away."

"From what?"

Flame Prince sighed. "It's silly. I made a wish with a magical… thing, I thought it would take me far away, but it took me back to my girlfr- I mean, my ex-girlfriend's house. I guess I just got really frustrated, so I started running, and I got lost. I just didn't want to have to look at her Tree Fort any more."

"Tree Fort?" Finn raised an eyebrow, confused.

"Yeah, it's where she lives. It's this giant tree house thing, she calls it the 'Tree Fort'. I think its in the… what are they called? The field lands?"

"The grass lands?"

"Yeah, that's it." Flame Prince sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"Dude. You're in the Tree Fort right now."

"What!?" Flame Prince sat up suddenly, looking around. He gripped the wool blanket tightly, as if he was afraid.

"Whoa, dude! Chillax, your GF doesn't live here, there must be another Tree Fort somewhere."

"No, I recognize it now, this is definitely her place. Where is she? Where's Fionna?" His eyes darted around the room nervously.

"Fionna… as in Fionna and Cake?" Finn knelt down so he was on the same level as Flame Prince.

"Yeah, Cake… she's the other person who lives here. Where are they? And who are you!? How'd you even get in here?"

Jake popped his head up from the lower level. "I've got gas!" he exclaimed, laughing. "Naw, I'm just messin'. Here's your gasoline." He stretched his arm out and handed Flame Prince a cup of liquid.

"Stretchy powers… Just like Cake," Flame Prince breathed, stunned.

"Finn? What's he talking about?" Jake sat on the floor next to Finn.

"He thinks this is the Fionna and Cake tree fort. I think… I think he really is Flame Prince!"

Flame Prince jumped a little, hearing his name. "How'd you know who I am?"

Finn and Jake looked at each other quizzically. "Uh, could you excuse us for a moment?" Jake asked, pulling Finn to his feet and leading him away from Flame Prince. "Dude, he's a fictional character! Fictional! As in, not real."

"Yeah, but Jake, look at him. He's cold, he's scared, he doesn't know where he is… sort of."

"But… homie, I'm just worried about you. First you were all mooped out over Flame Princess, and now you bring home a made-up 'nad-swapped flame top!"

"Psh, please. He's just another dude who got chummed up. Remember my promise, to always help anyone who's got 'problems'? And I think being a not-real person in a real enough world is a pretty big problem."

Jake nodded, eying Finn suspiciously. "True. OK, just… be careful. I don't want you getting 'burned' again."

Returning to Flame Prince's spot by the fire place, Jake introduced himself. "I'm Jake, this is Finn. You're in Ooo, in the real world. I don't know how you got here, but we're going to get you back as soon as possible."

"Wait, what!? Ooo? Real world? I don't…" Flame Prince rubbed his forehead, trying to clear his mind. The gasoline, while warm and replenishing, was clouding his brain and making him tipsy. "Look, I don't know who you guys are, and I don't know how you know me, but if I'm not in Aaa, please don't send me back. I don't…" He shivered. "I-I need some time to sort my glums."

Finn nodded. "I totally understand, dude. I've had some bad glums in the past. Uh… It's still raining outside. Do you wanna sleep here?"

Flame Prince blushed, shaking his head. "You've been extremely kind and helpful, but I don't want to impose-"

"Shoosh, dude, we have peeps sleepin' over all the time! There's plenty of space here in the den, or you could stay in the spare bedroom downstairs."

Flame Prince smiled weakly. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, no worries bro. We gotta get you all warmed up. Besides, I've got some things I'd like to ask you in the morning."

* * *

"OK, well, if you need anything, just give a holler." Finn gently shut the door to the spare bedroom. Flame Prince was much quieter than Finn would have expected, and didn't act like any royalty he'd ever met before.

Climbing up to his loft, Finn pulled his white hat from his head and set it on his bedside table. "I'm worried about him," he said to Jake as they both climbed into bed. "He's still much too cold for a fire person. Like, I can touch him and not get burned! Maybe we should take him to see Princess Bubblegum?"

"Naw, man. Remember PB got all wadded up when you and FP…" Finn frowned at Jake. "I mean… She's probably really busy, and fire elementals don't mix well with candy people. I read it in a book somewhere."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Night, bro!"

"G'night, bro."


	3. Be My Friend

"G'mornin', sunshine number 2!" Jake exclaimed as Finn climbed down the ladder into the kitchen.

Finn yawned, stretching his arms. "Sunshine number 2?"

Jake nodded. "Flame boy's already up, he's doing some weird stretching thing in the living room."

Finn smiled. "Hmm… stretching." He grabbed a mug of coffee and a small bowl of coal briquettes, and walked to the living room. Flame Prince had covered the floor in the middle of the room with tin foil, and was standing in a complex-looking yoga pose, his whole body bent backward so that he was looking at Finn upside down.

Finn took a seat next to him. "Morning!" he said brightly, sipping his coffee. "Whatcha doing?"

"Camatkarasana," said Flame Prince, his eyes closed.

"Camsat karana. Cool… cool."

Flame Prince giggled as he flipped over, and sat cross-legged across from Finn. "It's a yoga pose that's supposed to help with glums. I'm not sure if it's working, though."

"Heh… yeah, yogurt never really helped me much either. Maybe… maybe we can go on a hike later, that usually helps me when I get in a funk." He handed Flame Prince a coal briquette. Flame Prince took it and bit a corner off.

"Mmm… that's good, I didn't realize how hungry I was. I'd love a hike, where're we going?

"No idea! I usually just pick a starting spot and a direction and walk until I find something awesome, like an evil demon or an enchanted gauntlet. It's totally mathematical, like an adventure."

Flame Prince smiled sadly. "Fionna never let me come with her on her adventures. She always said it was too dangerous… that I'd get hurt."

Finn frowned. "Well, yeah it is kinda dangerous, and yeah, you might get a little jacked up, but that's the fun of it! What's life if there's no danger?"

Flame Prince nodded thoughtfully, munching on his coal.

* * *

After Finn had dressed, showered, and eaten, he and Flame Prince set off in a random direction, Finn humming energetically.

"So, Flame Prince… do you mind if I ask you some questions? Like, how you got to this universe?" Flame Prince nodded. "OK, um… how'd you get to this universe?"

Pulling the magic rock from his pocket, Flame Prince handed it to Finn. "I got this from my friend… well, distant friend, Marshall Lee. It's called a… tali-something. Basically, it's a magic stone that will transport you to wherever your true love is. I don't think it works, though, since I ended up here."

Finn frowned. "Hmm… aren't you dating Fionna? Oh, wait, you said you two broke up…" Flame Prince sighed and looked down at the ground. Realizing his mistake, Finn blushed and tried to back-pedal. "Sorry sorry sorry! Uh… You said you're from the land of…"

"Aaa."

"Right. Did you know that your universe is made up?"

"What?" Flame Prince stopped walking, looking at Finn in confusion.

"Well, I mean, I think it's made up. So, in this universe, which is the real universe, there's this wacko fruit-job nut-cake Ice King, who is totes super weird. He has this magic crown that made him go all bonkers and want to kidnap princesses and marry them… or something. Anyways, he has this freaky comic book fan fiction thing that he writes and makes everyone read. Basically, it's about everyone here in Ooo, but with their stuff switched. Like, boys are girls and girls are boys, dogs are cats, bears are rabbits, and I think that rainbows are black, but I'm not really sure because… right, not important." Flame Prince giggled, enjoying Finn's quirky way of speaking. "I think because Ice King wants to be… what does he call it? 'Besties' with me, the main character in his stories is Fionna. Finn… Fionna. Jake… Cake!"

"Wait… I think I remember something Fionna said… In Aaa there's someone like your Ice King, except she's a queen." Finn nodded. "Fionna said she writes stories about people in Aaa with their genders reversed. So what if Aaa is the real universe, and this is the made-up one?"

Finn's eyes grew wide. "S-so, this could all b-be a lie? Like I d-don't exist or something!?"

"No, I don't think so," said Flame Prince, placing his hand on Finn's cheek. "You seem pretty real to me, and I don't see why both places couldn't be real. It's like two people writing biographies about each other… they're both true stories."

Finn smiled, calming down a little. "Y-yeah, that makes sense." Suddenly he jumped backward, instinctively swatting Flame Prince's hand away from him.

"Oh my glob I'm so sorry!" shouted Flame Prince, holding his hand close to his chest. "Did I burn you!?"

"…No." Finn touched his cheek, confused. "Your hand was hot, but not, like, super cray burning hot." He held his hand out, palm up, and Flame Prince gently grabbed Finn's hand. "You're way too cold!" he said, looking at the flame boy's face with concern. "Are you feeling OK?"

"Yeah, I feel fine. In fact, I feel better than I've felt in a long time. It's nice and warm in your universe." He wiggled his shoulders comfortably.

"Hmm… weird." Finn resumed hiking, turning to check on Flame Prince occasionally. "What was that stretching yogurt thing you were doing earlier?"

"Yoga? It's an old Fire folk tradition, supposed to help bring mind, spirit, and body into harmony with each other, and to align and balance your chakras."

"Chakras? I didn't know I had a chakras."

Flame Prince smiled. "You have seven major chakras. My baba used to tell me that chakras were like paths for the powers of the universe to walk upon…"

"Like my melon-heart!"

Flame Prince giggled. "Yeah, exactly!" His face fell a little. "I miss my baba…"

Finn frowned. "Your dad? You liked your dad?" Flame Prince nodded. "Hmm… So you're not exactly like Flame Princess after all. Her dad imprisoned her in a giant lantern for most of her childhood. Then she got out and usurped the throne from him, and now she's, like, the queen of the Fire Kingdom or something. Empress maybe."

"There's a fire _kingdom_?"

"Well, yeah! What kingdom did you come from, back home in Aaa?"

The two boys had come upon a large, foreboding jungle. "Are we going in there?" asked Flame Prince with some trepidation.

Finn nodded, jumping up and down. "I've never been here before, there's probably all kinds of loot and traps and monsters and treasure and stuff… Come on, let's go!" He pulled his sword from his backpack and led the way into the thick brush, Flame Prince following.

"I was raised in a traveling tribe of flame folk… we just kind of wandered around, making camp wherever we wanted. There were about two hundred of us, I think. There was a terrible monsoon, though, that wiped out most of our tribe. I got separated from my baba and aai, that must have been when I was… seven? Eight? Eventually I was taken in by a pride of fire lions, and lived with them for a good six years. By the time Fi- by the time I was rescued, I'd completely forgotten how to talk, let alone read or write."

Finn whistled, impressed. "That's a heck of a life you've had, dude. How long ago was all this?"

"Uh… Fionna rescued me four years ago."

Finn stopped short. "You've only been talking for four years!?"

"Well, yeah… Cake says I'm a fast learner. I remembered a lot of it from before, though, when I was with my parents. I can also read and write and do basic arithmetic." He rubbed his neck awkwardly.

Finn whistled again. "Shmowzow, that's crazy! Whoa, look at that." They had come upon an ancient stone temple overgrown with vines.

"Wow, that's… that's both beautiful and creepy," Flame Prince said, looking up at the crumbling structure.

Finn smiled. "See? That's what adventuring is all about! Just because something's scary doesn't mean that it can't be awesome as well. Look, there's something shiny in there!" He pointed at an opening in the main building. Something gleamed in the dim light inside. "Let's check it out, maybe it's treasure." The two boys started toward the main building, climbing over large stone blocks that formed a sort of courtyard, when suddenly the ground shook.

"What's that!?" shouted Flame Prince. Finn shrugged, looking around for the source of the commotion. Suddenly, the vines covering the temple sprang into life, snaking their way into the air and forming a massive plant monster.

"Look out, Finn!" The beast lunged at Finn, who spread his feet and held his sword at the ready.

"Don't worry, FP, this donkus is _going down_." Finn leapt into the air, swinging his sword wildly. He sliced through a number of the vines, but for every vine-limb he severed, two more grew back. Soon the vine creature was a massive, tangled ball of vines and creepers.

"FP, I… WHOA-" Finn screamed, his voice cracking as he got tangled in a series of vines that lifted him high into the air.

"Finn!" Flame Prince jumped high into the air, his legs extending into a column of fire. "Hold on, Finn!" Clapping his hands together, he conjured a large ball of fire, and shot it at the vine-monster. It made contact, and the beast made an injured, shrieking sound as it let go of Finn. With a loud 'pop', the vines exploded apart, raining down over the stone temple. Flame Prince flew through the air, catching Finn in his outstretched arms before he hit the ground. "Are you alright?" he asked, landing gently and setting Finn down.

"Yeah, man, that was flippin' awesome!" Finn grinned at Flame Prince. "I was all like, _you goin' down_, and it was all, like, _no way, José_, and you were all like, _boom, fireball to the face_! Ya-yo!" He punched the air, acting it out.

Flame Prince laughed as Finn mimed the creature exploding. "I'm just glad you're not hurt."

"Aw, thanks man. Now let's go get that loot!" The two boys ran excitedly into the large temple building. "Cram-a-dacious!" exclaimed Finn. "It's a crystal sword!"

Flame Prince pulled the gleaming sword from the pedestal it was mounted on, and waved it through the air. "Wow, this is really neat!" The blade of the sword was a white crystal, the edge serrated and razor sharp. The hilt was an orange crystal, with a bright magenta gem embedded in the pommel.

"Try it out, dude!" Finn pulled some pieces of fruit from his backpack and tossed them into the air. Flame Prince spun in a circle, expertly wielding the sword as he sliced them cleanly in half, then into quarters. "Holy cow, how'd you do that!?" Finn exclaimed.

"I… I'm not really sure," said Flame Prince, spinning the sword in his hand. "It just feels, I don't know, natural. Here, you try." He offered the sword to Finn.

"Naw, man. You earned it, it's your sword now. Besides, I've got my own already."

"My own sword…" Flame Prince whispered, admiring the blade. "And its crystal, so I won't burn it or melt it!"

"Now you're a real, first-class adventurer. Bro-fist!" Finn bumped fists with Flame Prince. "Let's get back before it gets dark. Jake and BMO are making dinner tonight, something so spice just for you"

"Oh, I don't want to overstay my welcome. You've been so kind to me, but I don't want to be a burden."

The two boys set off toward the tree fort, Flame Prince swinging his new sword excitedly. "What? No, man. You're, like, our special guest. And until you work through your glums or you find your 'true love', you're staying."

"Thank you, Finn." Flame Prince sighed. "Most people back in Aaa would have left me to die in that swamp, or at least asked me to leave by now. You and Fion- a f-few other people, you're the only ones who've shown any compassion. You know, most people in Aaa have never even seen a fire folk before. Are they more common here in… what's it called? Ooo?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, there's a whole kingdom of fire people. When we first started dating, Flame Princess told me there were… hold on, I think she said there were about seven hundred thousand total." Flame Prince whistled, impressed. "But they mostly stay in the Fire Kingdom, especially now that Flame Princess is in charge. She's gone a little… bonkers with this whole 'honesty' thing, trying to be all self sufficient and stop trading with the rest of Ooo."

"Huh. Are you two still dating?" Finn shook his head sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh… do you mind if I ask what happened?"

"I'd rather not talk about it, actually. Kinda bums me out." Finn slumped forward a little.

"Oh." The two boys walked in an awkward silence for a moment. "Hey, did you notice how that vine thing kinda looked like guts when it got all tangled up?"

Finn laughed. "Yeah, I was thinking more like spaghetti, but it totes looked like guts! Greasy grimy gopher guts! Oh, spaghetti, that reminds me…" Finn bent down and pulled a small plant from the ground. "Basil, for cooking," he explained, placing it in his backpack. "I was supposed to get some yesterday when I found you, but, well… I got a little distracted."

Flame Prince laughed. "Yeah, sorry about that."

They exited the forest, and were standing on a small hill overlooking the grasslands. Finn held his sword up in the air. "Yaa! I have conquered you, mysterious forest of unknown name." He turned to Flame Prince, whispering. "Psst. You get to you it too, 'cause you got the sword and defeated that vine beast."

Flame Prince lifted his sword in the air, mirroring Finn. "Yaa…?"

"No, man, you have to really feel it. It's like a war cry, but for completing something."

Flame Prince closed his eyes, breathing in. "RAWR!" he shouted, lion-like "I won a sword! I'm a first-class adventurer now!" His face flushed with excitement as his voice echoed through the fields, he looked at Finn. "Wow, that felt great. Do you do that after every adventure?"

"Sometimes, but sometimes I just do it in here." He pointed at his head. "Y'know, so I don't scare peeps or whatevs."

Flame Prince smiled, coughing a little. Finn looked at him worryingly. "You alright, bro?"

"Yeah, just got a little something in my lungs."

* * *

Walking through the fields, Flame Prince tapped Finn on the shoulder. "Hey, Finn? Can… can I ask something weird?" Finn nodded, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. "So… so I've never been able to touch people before, because they always get burned. But now, for whatever reason, I'm not burning you. So, I was wondering… I don't know, can we, like, hold hands or something? I've just never been able to do it before, and I've always wanted to know what it's like."

Finn blushed a little, but nodded nonetheless. "Sure, man." He grabbed Flame Prince's hand, interweaving their fingers and holding tight. "I can't even imagine what that'd be like, not being able to hold hands, or shake hands, or bro-fist, or even hug. Man, no hugging!? That'd be totally bummer-bums."

Flame Prince smiled, enjoying the feeling of Finn's fingers between his own. "Yeah, it kinda sucked. But I got used to it. But if my true love is in this universe, maybe I'll be able to touch them? Like, touch as in holding hands kinda touch, not the other kind. Well, maybe eventually…"

Finn laughed. "No worries, I fo-sho know what you mean. Hey, sometime do you think you could teach me that yogurt stretching thing you were doing this morning?" Flame Prince nodded. "And I can show you how to make a back sling for your sword, so you don't have to carry it everywhere."

Flame Prince nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." He coughed again, but didn't let go of Finn's hand.

* * *

Entering the Tree Fort, Finn was greeted by a large mass of pink hair. "Finn, we need to talk!" said Princess Bubblegum. "Away from that fire guy." Behind her, Jake glanced at Finn guiltily.

"Sorry, bro, she came over to collect taxes and I kinda just jabbed that you found a lost fire person."

"What's this about, Peebs?" Finn let go of Flame Prince's hand, suddenly self-conscious.

"Finn, that guy is dangerous! You need to step away from him." Finn looked at Flame Prince, who appeared to be just as confused as he was. "Step away from him NOW" She pointed a large, gun-like device at Flame Prince.


	4. Dream With Me

Finn eyed Princess Bubblegum's device nervously. "Uh, princess…? You're not gonna hurt him, are you?"

"We'll see…" She pulled the trigger. The device clicked, emitted a low hum, then dinged. "Interesting…" She turned the device sideways, and flipped out a small display panel. "His metanomics are non-conjoined, and his spatio-signature is partially out of phase."

"P.B., what the blup is going on?" Finn tapped his foot impatiently.

Princess Bubblegum sighed, dropping her device to her side. "Last night, my long-range sensors picked up two anomalies in the space-time caliope. One was centered in the Ice Palace in the Ice Kingdom. The other was right in front of your house." Finn blinked in confusion. "Finn, ever since I was taken over by the Lich, I've been scanning for things from outside of our universe. Things that don't belong here. And that guy-" she pointed at Flame Prince. "…does not belong in our universe."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Well, duh. It's Flame Prince, from Ice King's fanfics. He made a wish that ended up landing him here in this universe, and here he is! No evil here." Finn waved his arms around Flame Prince to make his point.

"Thanks, Finn." Flame Prince smiled, then doubled over in a fit of coughing.

"Glob, dude, are you alright?" Flame Prince nodded, but continued coughing. "Cripes, get him something to drink, Jake!" Jake stretched up to the kitchen.

Princess Bubblegum tapped the readout on her device. "My directional scanning thingometer shows that his elemental matrix is unstable. Finn, this universe is toxic to him."

Finn rubbed Flame Prince's back gently as he recovered. "Is there anything you can do? He came here on purpose, he needs to stay here. At least for a little while."

Princess Bubblegum rubbed her chin, thinking. "I could probably formulate a serum that would stabilize him temporarily, but it wouldn't be a permanent solution."

"Please, Peebs?" Finn looked at her with his biggest puppy-dog eyes. "FP- this FP, not the other FP, he's like… a totally radical dude. He's nice and smart and… I don't know, just awesome!"

Smiling a little, Princess Bubblegum walked over to Flame Prince and Finn. "Finn, I haven't seen you this happy or excited since you and Flame Princess broke up. I'll do what I can to stabilize his elemental matrix. He'll be OK." She patted Flame Prince on his shoulder. "How did he get here?"

Leading the way into the kitchen, Finn and Flame Prince took turns explaining the events of the past two days. Princess Bubblegum examined the magic rock closely, scanning it from different angles with her device.

"This is some mad serious magic, Finn. Prince, would you be OK if I kept this with me, so I can run some tests? If this rock is powerful enough to pull you across the multiverse, perhaps I can find some way of replicating it to protect Ooo from evil beings."

Flame Prince looked at Finn, unsure. "You can trust her, dude," Finn said, nodding. Hesitantly, Flame Prince handed over the stone to Princess Bubblegum.

"Tomorrow we should go over to the Ice Kingdom and find out as much as we can about Flame Prince from the Ice King. If I can isolate his universe's unique quantum signature, perhaps I could find something to help him stabilize here in Ooo."

"Here ya go!" Jake handed Flame Prince a small cup of ethanol. "Hope that helps."

"Thanks," said Flame Prince horsely, taking the cup and drinking slowly.

"Hey P.B., we're having so spice salmon for dinner, you wanna stay?" Finn gestured at the dining room table.

"No thanks, Finn. I need to get this to a safe place." She indicated the rock in her hand. "Plus I want to get started formulating a serum for your friend." Smiling at Finn, Princess Bubblegum climbed down the ladder to the front door. "I'll meet you at the Ice Kingdom at 10 AM sharp tomorrow. Until then, make sure Flame Prince drinks lots of flammable liquids, and keep him away from mosquitoes. That should help a little with the coughing."

* * *

"Hope you like cajun!" exclaimed Jake as he set plates of salmon and rice in front of Finn and Flame Prince. "Check it, blackened salmon with rice pilaf, spicy style, and a glass of milk for the wimpy ones." He passed Finn a tall glass of milk, then sat down at the table. "So, Flame Prince, what'd yous guys do today?"

Flame Prince told Jake all about Finn and his adventure in the woods, occasionally interrupted by Finn's excited re-enactments.

"… And then, when we entered the temple, Finn found this sword!" Flame Prince proudly showed Jake his new sword, holding it up in the light of the setting sun streaming in through the window so that it seemed to glow orange.

"Well, Flame Prince was really the one who found it…" Finn added, blushing a little.

"We found it together, I guess. Finn said I could keep it. My very own sword!" He flourished it a little, then set it down carefully on a cushion near the table. "I've always wanted one. All the bravest adventurers seem to have one. Fionna had, like, five or six! Of course, she never let me near them…" He played with his fork absentmindedly, a shadow of a frown crossing his face.

Finn and Jake shared a silent look, Finn trying to get Jake to start on a new conversation. "Uh… How's the food?" Finn silently face-palmed, although Flame Prince perked up a little.

"Oh, it's great! Nice and spicy." Jake winked and slid a small shaker of cayenne pepper across the table to Flame Prince, who grinned and began seasoning his food, his whole body bouncing slightly from side to side with excitement. "Y'know," he said, "Most of the food I've had that's 'spicy' is really rather bland. It's like people, at least the people who've cooked for me in the past, make food spicy by replacing the flavor with heat. But this…" He took a large bite. "This is really good, and spicy!"

Jake turned and smirked at Finn, who was sweating and alternating between small bites of salmon and giant gulps of milk. "See, Finn? Finally someone who appreciates _real_ spicy food."

Flame Prince laughed a little, patting Finn on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. The first time I tried non-spicy food, my hair nearly went out and I had to eat, like, five habanero peppers. Eating non-spicy food for me is like eating spicy food for you." He took a sip from his cup of ethanol, savoring the taste. "Mmm… I've never had… what'd you call it? Ethol?"

"Ethanol, man. We use it for cleaning the floors and taking paint off of wood."

"Huh. Well, it's tasty. I bet you could probably use it in place of gasoline, for motors and stuff."

Finn whistled. "Dude, you're smart."

Flame Prince laughed. "A little bit, I guess. Princess Gumball seemed like a genius, though."

"You mean Princess Bubblegum? Yeah, I think she secretly eats dictionaries for breakfast and just burps up fancy words all day." Flame Prince and Jake both laughed.

* * *

After dinner, Flame Prince did yoga for a bit, then went to the guest bedroom to relax. The ethanol had been delicious, but he was starting to feel the effects of the alcohol on his system. Laying on his back, he thought about his hike with Finn. He had felt completely comfortable with the boy, even though he had only known him for a little more than a day. There was a soft knock on the door.

"Just a second…" He stood, steadying himself for a moment, then made his way over to the door. "Oh, hey Finn."

Finn stood on the threshold, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "Hey, FP. I thought…" He sighed. "I thought you might want to go up to the roof boat and watch the shooting stars. There's a lot of them out tonight."

"Yeah, I'd enjoy that." Finn led the way up to the attic and out through a small hatch in the roof. An old red and white row boat sat on a high limb, and the two boys climbed up and into the boat, laying down on their backs side by side.

Flame Prince smiled, looking up at the stars. Occasionally a shooting star would streak across the sky, Finn following them with his finger. "FP, I… I think I wanna tell you about what happened between me and Flame Princess."

"Hmm?" Flame Prince looked over at Finn curiously. "Won't it bum you out?"

"Yeah, maybe. But… I dunno. Yesterday was the third anniversary of her breaking up with me. Jake keeps saying I need to move on… he's probably right. But with you, I just feel… OK. I feel like if I talk about it with you, it might help. Y'know, to move forward."

Flame Prince nodded, grabbing Finn's hand and squeezing it reassuringly. "Oh, look at that one!" He pointed out a particularly bright shooting star.

Finn smiled sadly. "Flame Princess, she was… she was something else. Before I met her, I was hard core crushing on Princess Bubblegum. Looking back, it was kinda silly, 'specially 'cause I know now that she's, like, a gazillion years old… and sometimes she doesn't… But, yeah, not important. Anyways, I was all gummed up over her, so Jake went to the Fire Kingdom to find a new lady friend for me. Her dad was a bit… cray cray, but we ended up dating for just over a year." Finn proceeded to tell Flame Prince about the time he spent with Flame Prince, their adventures together and the fun times they had.

"Then what happened?" Flame Prince gave Finn's hand another squeeze, rubbing his thumb across the back of Finn's hand.

Finn sighed deeply. "Then I blew it. I had this awesome dream, where Flame Princess was shooting fire at me. But it didn't hurt, it was totally math. I was covered in flames."

"Your whole body?"

Finn blushed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Naw, just… just my guy-stuff."

"Oh." Flame Prince blushed as well.

"Yeah. Like I said, it was a good dream. The day before I had the dream, I had seen Flame Princess and Ice King duke it out, so I thought if I could get them to do that again, I'd have the dream again."

"Makes sense… sounds like a bad idea though."

Finn nodded. "Yeah, I kinda jammed them against each other to get them to fight. But it worked, I had the dream again. Except this time it was the Ice King instead of FP, and ice instead of fire. But the really jacked up thing is that the Cosmic Owl was there."

Flame Prince gasped. "The herald of time?" Finn nodded. "Wow… I've heard of prophecy dreams, but I've never known anyone who had one. What'd you do?"

Finn sighed again. "Well, I had to have the dream again. At least, I thought that's what I needed to do. It was dumb, really, but I was so crupped up on the dream I wasn't really thinking. I got FP and Ice King to fight again, but this time I really pushed them too far. FP melted the entire Ice Kingdom, and almost destroyed Ice King. I had to jump in and call it off before either of them got really badly hurt. I told them both what was going on, but… yeah. She left."

"Did you apologize?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah, like a jillion times. I sent her flowers, cards, exotic hardwoods… but I blew it. It was over."

Flame Prince looked over at Finn, his heart breaking. "Are you two at least on good terms?"

Finn shrugged. "I guess so. We still talk every now and then… but now she's dating Cinnamon Bun."

"Cinna… what!? Is your Cinnamon Bun a dorky klutz?"

Finn laughed a little. "Yeah. I mean, he's nice and all, but still… It hurt."

"C'mere." Flame Prince wrapped his arm around Finn's shoulders, pulling him close. "I know I only just met you the other day, but I feel like I've known you for a long time now. And if you're half of what I think you are, then she'd have to be either blind or crazy to leave you."

"Well, I was kind of a donkus to her." Finn breathed in deeply, enjoying Flame Prince's scent. He smelled like peat fire and freshly-cut pine wood.

"So? I mean, yeah, you could have made some smarter decisions, but part of being in a relationship is accepting apologies and giving second chances, right?"

Finn nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so. I still miss her, though. Why can't I just like someone who's chill and likes me back?"

Flame Prince yawned. "Maybe you just haven't met them yet. Or maybe they're right next to you and you just haven't figured it out yet."

"Yeah… yeah. Thanks, FP. You're a good friend. I like you." Finn squeezed Flame Prince's hand gently.

"Jace."

"What?" Finn looked over at Flame Prince.

"Jace, that's my name. Fionna started calling me Flame Prince because… actually I'm not really sure why she called me that. But my real name is Jace, son of Maliya and Sunil."

"Jace… Jaaay-ce. Ja-ceeee. Jay cee." Finn pronounced the name a few times, trying it out. "I like it. Jace. Yeah. Hey, if you end up staying here in Ooo, maybe some time after you find your true love, and I get a new girl friend, the four of us could go on a double date?"

Jace nodded sleepily. "I'd like that. What would your perfect date be?"

Finn drummed his fingers on his belly, thinking. "Well, we'd start out going on some sort of adventure. Dune sledding, or tree hopping. Something fun. Then we'd have a nice picnic dinner on a hill somewhere, probably by a lake. We'd watch the sun set as we ate dinner, something romantic like spaghetti or pizza, and watch the fireflies come out. I'd start a camp fire, and we'd stay up late telling stories and making marshmallow sandwiches."

"Camp fire stories?"

"Of course, but not too scary. Just right. Then, I'd walk her home and give her a smooch, like a gentleman." Finn smiled, visualizing it.

"That sounds great." Jace yawned, slowly falling asleep. "Too bad I'm not a girl, I'd love to go on a date with you." His glowing body dimmed a little as he fell asleep, snoring lightly.

Finn sat up, suddenly wide awake. It _was_ too bad Jace wasn't a girl. But why…? He liked Jace as a friend, of course, but now, looking down at his sleeping form, Finn was suddenly noticing him in a different light. His body was toned and smooth, his raggedy clothing revealing his shoulders and part of his chest. Scooping him up in his arms, Finn noticed a bunch of tiny freckles across Jace's nose and cheeks.

"C'mon, let's get you in side and in bed before the mosquitos start nibbling." Finn carried Jace into the house and set him down on his bed gently. "Jace, you're messing me up. And I think I like it," muttered Finn as he closed the door to the guest bedroom.

* * *

Up in the master bedroom, Finn changed into his pajamas quickly, feeling very self conscious of his body all of a sudden.

"Hey, Jake?" Jake looked up from the book he was reading. "What's love?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Like, what's the boundary between liking someone and loving them?"

Jake pursed his lips in thought. "Hmm… I'm not really sure. I guess it's different from person to person. But, bro, when you're in love with someone, you'll know."

"But how will I know when I know?"

"You'll just know."

"Will I know when I know that I know?"

"G'night, Finn."


	5. Teach Me

The next morning, Finn kept finding himself staring at Jace over breakfast. "Uh… Is there something on my face?" Jace asked, noticing Finn.

"N-no, there's nothing on your face. Except f-for your face. I m-mean…"

Jace laughed softly, splashing hot sauce on his omelette. "Well, I'm glad I still have my face. So when's Princess Gumb - I mean, Princess Bubblegum, coming by?"

"Ten o'clock," said Jake, pouring himself more coffee. "We should get ready soon, it'll take you a while to get suited up."

"Suited up?"

Jake winked at Jace. "Uh-doy. We're going to the Ice Kingdom. Can't have you freezing now, can we?"

* * *

Ten minutes later, Jace waddled into the living room, and Finn burst out laughing. Jake, it seemed, had covered Jace in every piece of cold-weather gear he could find.

"Hmhmh mh vmrm rhmgmmrmh?"

"Hur dur what?" Finn walked over to Jace, who now resembled a beige marshmallow. "Hold on, man, I think Jake went babies over these jackets." He pulled off three hats and two ski masks from Jace. "Say what now?"

"I said, is this all really necessary? I can't move my arms." He wiggled his arms, which were so entrenched in fluffy winter coats that they stuck straight out.

"Yeah, I don't think you need quite so much."

"Aww," moaned Jake. "But I had so much fun putting them all on him!"

Finn scowled at Jake. "You're weird, man."

* * *

Outside, Finn, Jake, and Jace met up with Princess Bubblegum and Lady Rainicorn.

"Hello, m'lady," greeted Jake, bowing low and kissing Lady Rainicorn's hoof.

"오, 당신은 신사입니다," said Lady Rainicorn, giggling.

"Hi Finn, Jake, Flame Prince." Princess Bubblegum jumped down from Lady Rainicorn's back gracefully. "I wasn't able to finish the stabilization serum last night, but I was able to procure this." She held out a small vial of milky liquid. "It's a propyretic, it should help with the coughing until I finish the serum formula.

Jace took the vial and drank some of the liquid, then gagged. "Ugh, it tastes like candle wax."

"You don't like candles?" asked Finn, surprised.

"I don't like _eating_ them." He stuck out his tongue as Finn giggled.

"Um… are you going to be able to move in that?" Princess Bubblegum gestured at Jace's numerous jackets and layers of snow pants and boots. "Flame Princess never seemed to have any trouble in the Ice Kingdom."

Finn frowned. "He's not Flame Princess. He's his own peep. And I don't want him getting chilled, he's already cold enough as it is."

"Hm." Princess Bubblegum nodded in agreement. "Well, mount up. Lady, away!"

* * *

Princess Bubblegum hesitated, her knuckles hovering a few inches from the frozen door in front of her. Sighing, she knocked firmly.

"Just a minute! I… oof, Gunter, don't lay there, I'll trip over you again. Coming!" Ice King opened the door and jumped back in surprise. "Princess!? I, uh… I didn't know you were coming over, I would have put on some colog-ne!"

Princess Bubblegum rolled her eyes. "Ice King, we need to take a look at your Fionna and Cake collection."

"My… what? Why, I thought you were still in denial about how much you love them! Finally seen the light, huh? Wouldn't you rather make out instead?"

"Ugh, gross man!" muttered Jake. Ice King glanced at Jake, realizing that Princess Bubblegum hadn't come alone.

"Oh, uh… Jake… and Finn! My besties! Oh, and Flame Prince." Finn tapped his foot, waiting for Ice King to make the connection. "Wait, what!? Flame Prince!?" Ice King jumped backward, tripping over a penguin and hitting the ground with a soft 'thud'. "W-wha… h-how…? Is this a joke? Are you pulling my beard?"

Princess Bubblegum sighed. "No, Ice King. Flame Prince is here in our dimension, and we need your help to stabilize him." Asking him for help seemed almost painful to her. "I need to see your Fionna and Cake archive so I can understand his elemental background."

Ice King stood, straightening his crown. "So does that mean the portal is finally open? I can go be with Fionna?" He jumped up and down with glee, clapping his hands.

"What portal?"

"I don't know, a portal, some portal, any portal!"

"No. No portal. Flame Prince made it across the multiverse using strong, dangerous magic. And no," she added, anticipating Ice King's next question. "You can't use it. It doesn't work like that."

Ice King looked crestfallen. "Oh. OK then. Well, come this way, I'll take you to my collection," he said flatly, leading the way into his basement. A large ice bookshelf ran along one wall, packed with books. "Here's my collection. Have at it." He gestured at the bookshelf half-heartedly. "Oh, and Flame Prince, sorry to hear about you and Fionna."

"Wait, how'd you know about him and Fionna?" asked Finn.

"They broke up in the most recent edition, issue 154." Ice King pulled a book from the bottom shelf and handed it over to Finn, who opened it and skimmed the first few pages. "Maybe now she'll finally have her chance with Prince Gumball." Jace winced, clearly pained by statement. "Oh, sorry FP."

"What!?" Jake stretched his face out so he was right in front of Ice King. "She's not right with Gumball, him and Marshall Lee belong together."

"Nuh-uh! What she has with PG is special."

"No way, man. GumLee forevah!" Jake punched his fist in the air.

"That's not your handwriting," interrupted Princess Bubblegum, looking over Finn's shoulder. "How do you write these?"

"Oh, yeah. I use the stonecutter's quill, that's why the handwriting isn't as good as mine." Jake snorted, looking from the impeccable lettering in the book to the barely legible labels on the books' spines.

"You have the stonecutter's quill!?" Princess Bubblegum glared at Ice King angrily. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, sugarcakes, you never asked!"

"Guys, what's the stonecutter's quill?" Finn glanced at Jace nervously, making sure he wasn't too cold. The fire boy was shivering lightly, but didn't seem to be in any sort of extreme discomfort.

"Come, I'll show you." Ice King led the group into a nearby room. A messy desk sat against one wall, with a dusty treadmill and a couple of broken drums along the other wall. "This is the stonecutter's quill." He held up an old, ornate fountain pen with gold letters on the side, 'W. E. D.'

"OK… it's a pen. So what's so math about it?" asked Finn.

"Check this junk out," said Ice King, opening a half-filled notebook. After dipping the tip of the pen in ink, he gently touched the nib to the very center of the page. At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, swirls of ink began spreading across from the page, spidering out from the pen. The swirls formed letters, which danced across the page and joined together to form words, then sentences, then paragraphs. "And there you have it. Looks like Cake is making her famous pot roast for dinner," he muttered, skimming the first few lines of the page.

Finn turned to Princess Bubblegum, confused. She explained, "The stonecutter's quill used to belong to a powerful storyteller who imbued it with magic that can reach across the space-time calliope and connect realities through narrative." Finn blinked in confusion. "Basically, it shows what's happening in another universe. Whatever goes into the page is happening right now, in Aaa."

"Hey Ice King, why's Flame Prince so cold?" Finn demanded, shivering.

"W-well, uh… everything is colder in Aaa. I wrote it that way. Everything's better when it's colder."

"Can you make things happen with that pen?" asked Jace, speaking up for the first time since they had arrived. "Can you make things happen in Aaa?"

Ice King looked at Jace curiously. "I can sometimes make small things change, like change the color of a shirt or when and where lost things turn up, but only if it doesn't contradict previous chapters."

Princess Bubblegum nodded. "The quill must work by collapsing quantum super-states."

"Yeah, what she said. Quanty things." The ice king wiggled his eyebrows, clearly trying to impress Finn and Jake.

Jace took a step forward. "Can you send a letter to Fionna for me? I don't want her to be worried, since I did kinda disappear."

Ice King nodded. "Okey dokey, it should work since you're already in the story."

Jace sighed. "Tell Fionna that I'm sorry for what happened, and that I'm safe where I am right now. Tell her that… that I miss her, and that I hope we can still be friends. Make sure she knows how to contact me, if the Ice Queen has a stone quill thing too. Tell her… t-tell her that, while we didn't always see eye-to-eye, the time we spent together was the best time of my life, and that I wouldn't trade it for anything in Aaa. But mostly, make sure that she knows that I'm safe and sound." A single burning tear dripped down his cheek and fell to the ground, sizzling in the ice. Ice King nodded uncomfortably, and turned to write in the book.

Finn put his hand on Jace's shoulder. "Would… would you like to wait outside with me and Lady Rainicorn? Jake can help Peebles finish up in here." Jace nodded silently, and Finn led him from Ice King's palace.

* * *

Outside, Jace melted a small hole in the ice and sat on the rock, his eyes locked on the horizon.

"당신이 완료?" asked Lady Rainicorn.

"Oh, hey Lady. Jace needs some alone time, do you think you could take a few laps around the mountains?"

"나는 그것을 즐길 것이다. 내가 움직이지 않고있을 때, 차다." She took off into the sky, and quickly disappeared behind a nearby peak.

Finn patted Jace on the back, then turned to climb down the mountain. He stopped and turned, however, when Jace grabbed his arm. "Please don't go." He looked at Finn with pleading eyes. "I don't feel so lonely when I'm with you." Finn blushed and sat next to him, their shoulders touching, and the two boys sat in silence for a while, watching the clouds catch the midday sun.

"Is there anything I can do?" asked Finn, noticing tears in Jace's eyes.

"Can we hold hands again?" Finn helped Jace remove his two layers of gloves and gave his hand a firm squeeze. "I'm sorry you had to see that, Finn. It just kinda hit me, that I may never see Fionna again."

"Don't say that, dude! You said the stone can take you waybacks to home if you want it to."

Jace nodded. "Yeah, but where's home for me? My tribe is gone, Fionna kicked me out, and who knows where my pride of fire lions is now? I guess it also hit me hard that, out of everyone in Aaa, there's not a single person who's right for me. I'm so unlovable that I had to go to a parallel universe to find someone to take me in." A few more tears dripped down his cheeks.

Finn gave Jace's hand another hard squeeze. "Or… or there's someone here in Ooo that's so beefin' right for you that the connection between her and you transcends whatevers! Hmm?"

Jace sniffled. "Yeah, I suppose that's possible." He shivered lightly. "Your Ice King seems a lot less evil than the one in Aaa."

"Evil? Naw, Simon's not evil. He's just a super-donk who doesn't always know right from wrong. But he's not evil. Just a pain."

"Huh. Ice Queen is definitely evil. Well, at least she used to be, she's calmed down a lot in the past few years. But she tried to kill me once with a magic salt crystal."

"Shwa? Why would anyone want to kill you? You're totally rhombus!"

Jace giggled. "Thanks, you too."

"Ahh? Ahh!? See, I got you to laugh. Feeling better?"

"A little."

* * *

On the flight back home, Finn tapped Jake on the shoulder. "Dude, what did you mean, back there, when you said Prince Gumball belongs with Marshall Lee?"

Jake looked over at Finn, a little surprised. "Oh. Well, since Ice King keeps making us listen to his gank stories, I guess I just started getting interested in them. Like how if you hate lemon curd, but eat two waffles every day with lemon curd on them, you can't put strawberry jam on waffles any more, 'cause it tastes wrong."

"Lemon curd on…? Ugh, that's gross."

"Hey, don't knock it 'till you've had it every day for eighty weeks."

"You're gross, man. But that thing, about PG and Marshall?"

"I dunno, they're just right for each other. Remember what I said, when you know you know? I just know. True love is blind, right? Which is good, since Gumball ain't no looker."

"Hmm… Hey, bro? Can you drop me by the library? I need to look something up. Uh… about flammable foods, for Flame Prince."

"Sure, bro. Hey, Lady? Small detour to visit the library."

"좋아. 나는 약간의 국수 스프를 원한다."

"Me too," replied Jake.

"Thanks, homie. You can take FP, PB, and LR back home. I'll catch up with y'alls later. Make sure Jace-I mean, Flame Prince, is nice and warm, and make sure he takes more of Peeb's med stuff."

"Sure thing."

* * *

In the library, Finn waited for fifteen full minutes after Lady Rainicorn flew off, just to be sure that he was more or less alone. Then he set off to find Turtle Princess, the head librarian. He found her putting books back on the shelf in the gardening section. His heart pounding in his ears, he nervously tapped her on her shell-shoulder.

"Hey, Teeps, uh…"

"Oh, hey Finn. Can I help you find something?"

Finn wiggled his fingers nervously, and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Uh… where's the section on relationships?"

Turtle Princess giggled. "Second floor, north wing, aisles 8 through 10."

"A-and anatomy?" Finn scratched the back of his neck, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

Turtle Princess blushed, smiling. "Second floor, north wing, aisles 14 through 19."

"Oh… OK thanks." Finn turned away and grabbed a book at random off of the shelf, opening it and pretending to read. "H-hey, 'nother question, are there any books that overlap between relationships and anatomy?"

Turtle Princess finished shelving her books and squinted, thinking. "If there are any, they'd be… let's see… Second floor, north wing, aisle 10, second shelf from the bottom, about half-way down the aisle. I think there are a few books on… that subject." Blushing some more, she quickly pushed her now-empty cart down the aisle of shelves and disappeared.

Finn sighed in relief. Looking down, he noticed what book he was holding. 'Exotic Fruit of the Orient'. The page he was opened to was a listing of chili peppers, ordered by spiciness. He grinned to himself, closing the book at taking it with him.

* * *

Up on the second floor, Finn quickly found the right aisle and, after checking that no one could see him, walked down the aisle and began browsing titles on the second to bottom shelf.

"Hmm… 'Assessing Your Sexual Prowess'… 'Tantric Methods and Mindgasms', gross… 'Lexicon of Sexually Transmitted Diseases'… Aha! 'Love Transcends: A Study of Alternative Relationships'." Finn pulled the book from the shelf and sat on the dusty floor, reading the back cover.

_Inspired by the original research of his renowned old-world ancestor, Dr. Dale Kinsey has created an updated, cohesive, and complete study of sexuality and romantic relationships in new-order beings. This book, organized by relationship type, serves as a definitive entry point into the world of sexual orientation, reproductive biology, and the thrills of true love._

Satisfied that he'd found the right book, Finn glanced around one last time, then cracked the book open and began reading, blood pounding in his ears. He felt slightly dirty and guilty reading the book, but the thrill of learning about himself urged him on.

_Preface: How to Navigate This Book_

_In order to utilize this book to its full potential, you must understand the difference between sex and gender. Gender is how one chooses to represent themselves to the world, and is typically categorized from 'feminine' to 'masculine', and although it is an over-simplification, these adjectives should serve as an entry point to understanding and discovering your own gender identity. On the other hand, sex is one's biological reproductive function, colloquially referred to as 'your plumbing'. This has been historically expressed as the binary 'Male' and 'Female', although recent new-order (post-war) research has indicated that there may, in fact, be a gradation to this as well, as new sexes have turned up (including asexual reproduction, sometimes referred to as 'cloning', and hermaphroditic reproduction, wherein a subject has non-deterministic body parts that can adapt to either male or female roles)._

_This book is divided into multiple sections, each pertaining to a specific binary pairing (for polyamorous relations, please see Appendix A). Section I covers Male / Male relationships, Section II covers Female / Male relationships, and Section III covers Female / Female Relationships. Each section follows a similar chapter structure, wherein…_

Finn flipped ahead to the page that marked the start of Section I.

_Section I: Chapter 1_

_Homosexual Relationships, an Introduction_

_In nearly all humanoid life forms, as well as most life forms with Category 3 or higher consciousness, a small but not insignificant portion of any given population has been observed to exhibit sexual and / or romantic relationships between two male individuals. Formally, this is known as a homosexual relationship, although old-world literature has also referred to such relationships as 'gay', or 'queer' (see Appendix B: Terms and Taxonomy)._

_Although not much research has been done in this area, there has been no anecdotal evidence to suggest that homosexuality is related to preference toward same-phylotype or same-specie relationships. Indeed, with the recent increase in the number of humanoid intelligent species and elementals, species has had a significant decline in relevance to sexual compatibility (see Appendix D)._

_Although, as with Female / Female couples, Male / Male couples are incapable of traditional sexual reproduction, there is no shortage of sexual activity that Male / Male couples can engage in (see Section I: Chapter 2 for more details)._

_Notable historic figures include…_

Finn shut the book. Although he hadn't understood most of the more science-y content, he had learned what he had hoped to learn: there was no reason, at least not according to the book, why he couldn't love Jace. Content with that thought, Finn placed the book back on the shelf and headed down toward the checkout desk, the book on exotic fruit held firmly in his hands.


	6. Keep Me Warm

"Hey-o! I'm back!" Finn walked in through the front door of the Tree Fort, quickly stashing his new book in the treasure room, along with a small paper bag full of food he'd picked up on the way back. "Hello?" The fort was surprisingly quiet. "Yo, homes! Where my peeps at?" Finn climbed up the ladder that led to the den, where he found Jake playing BMO, wearing a very large set of headphones.

Pulling the headphones from Jake's ears, Finn asked, "Hey, where's Flame Prince?"

"Quit it!" moaned Jake, tugging at the headphones. "BMO just got Kompy's Castle II, Return of Kompy."

Finn held tight to the headphones. "Where. Is. Flame Prince?" he asked again, a little frustrated.

"I dunno, last I saw he was going out back. Said something about a stomach ache. Now gimme those 'phones back!"

"WHAT!?" Finn dropped the headphones and jumped out an open window in the kitchen, tumbling nimbly onto the grass behind the tree. Looking around, he spied Jace hunched over, supporting himself on a low branch near the scrap shed.

"Jace! Are you OK?" Finn ran over to Jace, placing his hand on his back and walking around so they were face-to-face.

"Uhghggg… yeah, just a stomach ache. I probably just got a little nauseous on the flight back here. Uhhhhgggg…" He leaned forward, supporting himself against Finn, and clutched his stomach with his free hand as he retched.

"Oh, dude, you're totes _not_ OK. Here…" Finn guided him over to the small shed where spare parts and scrap metal were kept, and helped him sit down on the ground, the corrugated metal of the shed wall supporting his back. "What time did you take that med Princess Bubblegum left?"

"Uh… This morning?"

"No, I mean when you got back here with Jake."

"Oh… I didn't take any. Jake said you had it, then he went off to play BMO."

Finn leaned forward a little, placing his hand against Jace's forehead. "You're ice cold!"

"Yeah, I don't feel so hot." Jace smiled weakly at Finn.

"Hold on, lemme find that you-juice Peebs left…" Finn stood and walked toward the tree house, then stopped and slapped his forehead. "Glob gone-it, dummy!" He turned and jogged back to Jace, squatting down on the ground. "Jace, I'm totally sorry. Jake was right, I put it in my backpack this morning." He pulled the vial of milky liquid from his pack, and helped Jace drink some.

"Bleh, ugh, it really tastes awful."

Finn leaned against the side of the shed and slid down to the ground so he was sitting side-by-side with Jace. "Yeah, sorry about that." They sat for a moment in silence. "Course, if all medicine-stuffs tasted great, peeps would be drinkin' it all the time, and all the gross little germy things would get used to it. Then we'd have to, like, drink orange juice or something when we get sick, and we'd probably think that orange juice tastes terrible."

Jace giggled, although his face was still somewhat contorted with pain. "Yeah, I'd never thought of it that way. That's actually… that's actually really smart. You're smart, Finn."

"Naw," said Finn, blushing. "I don't got no smarts. Peeblies and nerd-kind have that one down, I just stick to kicking evil buttocks and helping things with needs. Y'know, being righteous and all."

"Huh. Well, I think you're smart. And there's nothing you can do about it," teased Jace, blowing a spark-filled raspberry at Finn.

"Aw, shucks. Hey, are ya feeling any better?"

Jace nodded, rubbing his belly. "Yeah, somewhat. I'm a bit hungry, too."

"Good, 'cause I've got a little surprise for dinner. But that'll have to wait, since you don't look quite well enough to go back inside, and I'm not leaving you out here by yourself."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about me." Jace leaned his head back against the wall of the shed and closed his eyes, breathing heavily. "I'm feeling a bit better, I just need to let my stuff calm down some."

"OK, well, I'm staying here with you while your bod gets all un-jankied."

Jace looked over and smiled at Finn. "Thanks, Finn. You're one of the sweetest guys I've ever met." He held Finn's hand and gave it a small squeeze, leaning his head back against the side of the shed and closing his eyes. "I know it sounds weird, but you're actually pretty close to what I was looking for when I came to Ooo. Y'know, in a true-love girl person." Jace sighed deeply.

Finn stared at Jace, his mouth opening wide in a silent gasp. For the first time, he understood what Jake had meant earlier, about just knowing. And now, Finn _knew_. He was in love with Jace, the Flame Prince of Aaa. Nothing seemed to matter any more, except making sure Jace was safe, happy, and close by.

"Y'know, uh… we could… there's no reason why not, unless you don't want to, of course, but… yeah, if you wanna try…" Jace opened his eyes and looked over at Finn, his expression unreadable. "Y'know, you and me, we could try… like… dating?" Finn shut his eyes tight, silently cursing himself. _Of course he doesn't want to date you, you donkus. He's all jacked up because of the meds, he probably just wants to be left alone or whatevs._ "Sorry, never mind. Forget I said anything." Finn pulled his hand away from Jace's and sat completely still, his eyes still closed tight, waiting for a response.

Silence.

Finn cracked one of his eyes open and glanced over at Jace, then opened his other eye, turning to face his friend. Jace was staring at him, glowing tears silently streaming down his cheeks.

"Oh glob, dude, I'm sorry," shouted Finn. "Please don't cry, I didn't mean to say that. It… it was a mistake, pretend I never said anything!"

Jace smiled slightly, gently brushing his hand against Finn's cheek. "You'd do that for me?" he asked.

"Do that… do what?"

"You'd date me? You'd be willing to risk not having children, for me?"

"Children?" Finn blushed.

"Well, yeah. I guess… I guess it's not quite as important anymore, but when I was with my tribe of fire folk, there were so few of us left that having children was extremely important. If a fire guy chose to be with another fire guy, that meant he was giving up on having children, on expanding the tribe. It used to be considered selfish, and the few who chose to do it were ultimately kicked out of the tribe. I guess that doesn't really matter any more, though, since you're not even a fire elemental."

"Well, no, not exactly." Finn frowned. "Like I said, forget I said anything. I wouldn't want to upset you, or, like, be rude to your heritage or something, or cronk up our friendship."

"Would you really do that for me, though?" Jace asked. "Would you date me?"

Finn nodded. "I… I guess I'd like to try it. Y'know, to see if it works. At least, I think I do. My melon-heart says yes, but my noodle-brain isn't sure."

Jace laughed lightly, a few more tears dripping down his cheeks. "Yeah, I know the feeling." He wiped the tears from his eyes. "That's what yoga is supposed to help with. See, this is supposed to channel the energy of Manipura." He pulled the gem from his forehead, and Finn gasped.

"It comes off?" Finn reached up and gently rubbed the pale spot on Jace's forehead where the gem used to be.

"Yeah, it's kind of like a sticker. Manipura is the fire chakra, which is supposed to be the guiding chakra of fire folk. Here, try it on." He stuck the gem on Finn's forehead. "It's supposed to help bring your 'noodle-brain' and 'melon-heart' together. Is it helping?"

Finn closed his eyes, trying to visualize his heart and his brain talking to each other. "I feel… I feel like… there's a sap-covered leaf stuck to my face." He peeled the gem from his forehead and handed it back to Jace, who laughed.

"Yeah, it's never worked for me either. I keep trying, though." They both laughed as Jace stuck the gem back on his forehead.

"Hey, um… are you feeling better?"

Jace smiled, his flaming hair growing high. "I haven't felt this good in years." He squeezed Finn's hand, making him blush.

"No, I meant is your stomach feeling better?"

"Oh, that. Yeah, much better."

"Shweet! Dinner's gonna blow your mind." Finn stood, helping Jace up, and pulled him toward the Tree Fort. Jace pulled back on Finn's hand, though, spinning him around so they were face to face.

Pulling him into a tight hug, Jace whispered, "Thank you, Finn. I'd be honored to try dating you, no matter how selfish it may be."

Finn grinned widely, relishing the warm, strong feeling of Jace's arms around his body. They stood for a moment, embracing each other, before Finn broke the hug and excitedly pulled Jace toward the back door of the Tree House.

"Hey, Jace. Ever heard of Ghost Peppers?"

* * *

At dinner, Finn told Jace and Jake about how he had stopped by Choose Goose's stall at the market to buy some special peppers. "And all I needed to do was sing a song for Ceege."

Jake laughed. "I'll be you sang the buff baby song."

Finn glared at Jake. "I sang 'A Hero Is Made'. Y'know, the one about how you eat bugs when you're riding a rainicorn?"

"Oh. That song."

"Any way, I got the peppers and made this super awesome like five jillion degree spicy spice hot sauce for the chili!" He gestured at the bowls in front of Jace and Jake, and the small glass bottles of deep red hot sauce. "The book I got said that the ghost peppers are also sometimes called Red Naga or Bhut Jolokia."

Jace gasped. "Red Naga!? I thought I'd never get to taste one of those! They're legendary among fire folk. Said to be the rarest and most flavorful peppers ever grown!"

"Also the hottest! Over a million things on the hot things scale! And… I bet Jake won't be able to handle even four drops." Finn smirked at Jake.

"Ooooh!" shouted Jace, egging Finn on.

"I most certainly can take four drops! I bet I can take a full-on splash, or even a Lagasse-dash!

"Oh yeah!? What're the stakes?"

"Let's say, winner gets to rub Lady Rainicorn's tummy."

Finn and Jace looked at each other, confused.

"That's a dumb stake. Howsabout… winner gets to laugh at the looser."

"Deal."

Jace leaned over and whispered something in Finn's ear.

"Oh, yeah, and looser has to sleep in the chicken coop tonight."

"Aww, no fair."

"What, are you chicken? Too chicken to sleep like a chicken?"

"That accusation makes no sense. Fine. Winner gets to laugh at the looser, who has to sleep in the chicken coop tonight. Hope you like getting pecked in the middle of the night. By chickens."

"Is this a regular thing you guys do?" asked Jace.

"Yep," replied Finn and Jake simultaneously, as they shook hands.

"Check it. One…" Jake dripped a single drop of hot sauce on his chili. "Two… Three… fourfivesixseveneightninetenkasploosh!" He spattered his bowl with the hot sauce.

"Hold on, let me taste it first." Jace poured an equal amount on his chili, then took a large bite. His eyes grew wide with astonishment. "Oh. My. Glob. This is the most amazing thing… EVER." He began shoveling more food into his mouth.

"See? If hot stuff over there can take it, so can I." Jake took a bite.

"Well…?" asked Finn.

Jake didn't say anything, but his face turned bright pink as his eyes brimmed with tears. "Uh… excuse me please." He stretched his mouth out the kitchen window, down to the ground, and over to the duck pond in front of the tree fort. Gasping for air, he quickly drained the pond of its water, then stretched around to the back of the tree fort and latched on to the rain accumulator, draining it as well. Finally, after five minutes of drinking, his mouth returned to his body back in the dining room. "I'm gonna go make a bed of straw in the chicken coop now. Good night." He stood and bolted toward the door, his tongue hanging limply from his mouth.

Finn and Jace burst into laughter, rocking back and forth in their seats. "Did you see his face!?" gasped Finn.

"Yeah, I thought he was gonna pop! But seriously, though, this hot sauce is genius. No wonder those peppers are legendary among fire folk."

"Thanks! Apparently Choose Goose knows where to get them, I'll make sure you've always got some with every meal."

"Really? Finn, you're spoiling me. If you don't stop, I may just have to stay here all night long." He winked at Finn.

"I'd like that. Guess what?"

"What?"

"My room mate is in the chicken coop tonight. Wanna have a proper sleep over?" Finn asked, feeling butterflies in his chest.

Jace grinned. "I'd be honored."

* * *

"Huh, interesting…" Jace looked around Finn's bedroom, this being the first time he'd seen it.

"What?" asked Finn from the bathroom, where he was brushing his teeth.

"The rest of your tree fort looks almost exactly like the one in Aaa. But the bedroom is totally different."

Finn, already in his favorite red pajamas, walked back into the room, carrying a glass of water and a copper tumbler of kerosine. "Hmm… well, I guess that makes sense. This is the only room Ice King has never seen. At least, I hope he's never been in here before." Finn looked around the room, suddenly a little suspicious.

"Is this where Jake sleeps?" asked Jace, gesturing at Jake's drawer.

"Yeah, he usually shrinks down so it's like a normal-size bed for him."

"Man, I wish I could do that. Then, I could sleep in a candle flame!"

"How's that different from just sleeping in a normal fire?" Finn asked, setting the glasses down on his side table.

"Oh man, there's so many different types of fires!" Jace's eyes lit up. "Candle fires are soft, and they usually smell really good. They're not very warm, though. Then there's wood fires. Those are hotter, but not as soft, and they get ash all over you. Once, when I was living with the fire lions, we found this old burled padouk tree. Man, that was unbelievable. Imagine laying on a bed made of mist. Magical. Then there's the uncomfortable fires, like oil fires, or," he grimaced, "plastic fires. Ugh. Like sandpaper. And the soot _never_ washes out."

"Wow, I didn't know there were so many different types of fires!" Finn crawled into his bed, pulling off his hat. Jace looked longingly at Finn's blond hair. "What?"

"Fionna never let me touch her hair. I think she was afraid I'd burn it off or something."

"Well, you can touch my hair. I don't mind, you're not as hot in this universe. I mean…" Finn blushed. "You're hot, just not, like, normal hot. No, wait. I mean, temperature-wise. You are hot, as in, like, handsome. I… er…"

Jace giggled. "I know what you mean. You're silly." He climbed into bed beside Finn, and gently ran his fingers through Finn's hair. "It's so soft…", he breathed, enjoying the feeling. His hand made its way down through the back of Finn's hair, and down to his neck, gently rubbing against Finn's skin.

"Mmm…" Finn involuntarily moaned, closing his eyes and tilting his head to one side so Jace could continue touching his neck.

"Your skin's so soft…"

"Not really. My whole body's basically one big callous."

"Um… no, I don't think so. Feels pretty soft to me."

"Thanks."

Jace continued running his hand over Finn's skin, over his shoulder and along his collarbone. Finn felt something stirring near his groin, but chose to ignore it. Jace's touch sent warm shivers through his whole body, warming him from the inside.

"I should mention," said Finn, his eyes still closed as he savored the other's touch, "I don't really know how these things work. Y'know, when guys date guys."

Jace stopped rubbing Finn with his hand, and Finn opened his eyes. "Me neither, but I think I can figure it out. I think a good place to start would be… here." He climbed over Finn so he was straddling his body, and leaned down so he was inches from Finn's face. "I really, really like you, Finn the Human. So please forgive me if I don't do this right. I've never really gotten to try this."

"Wha-" Finn was cut off as Jace brought his lips to Finn's, kissing him slowly. It took a moment for Finn to register what was happening, but quickly he found himself involuntarily kissing back.

Kissing Jace was unlike anything he'd ever experienced before. The fire boy's lips were much softer than he expected, and were pleasantly hot and wet. As his arms wrapped around Jace's back and pulled him closer, Finn found that he wasn't as aware of his motions, as if he instinctually knew how to act. None of Jace felt 'off limits', as some parts had been when he had kissed women before, and Finn found his fingers working their way across Jace's lower back and upper chest, gently exploring and massaging Jace's hot skin. He ran his fingers through Jace's flame hair, the fire tickling his fingers. He could feel Jace smiling into the kiss, as they gently made out on Finn's bed.

Eventually, Jace was the first one to break the kiss. Finn moaned quietly, begging for more, but Jace slid off of him. "Do you mind if I borrow some night clothes? I've kinda been wearing the same thing since I got here." He gestured at his red and orange suit, which was ripped and ragged, and still had patches of dried mud from the swamp in it.

"Yeah, sure. I think I've got some stuff that'll fit you in the top drawer over there." Finn indicated the chest of drawers where he kept his clothes.

"Hold on, I'll be right back." Winking at Finn, Jace pulled a light beige t-shirt from the chest, as well as a pair of loose black exercise shorts, and disappeared into the bathroom.

Finn laid still, listening to the blood pounding in his ears, his body tingling with happiness. He felt a familiar tightness in his pajama bottoms, and quickly rolled onto his side to hide it, hoping Jace wouldn't notice.

When Jace came back into the room, however, Finn noticed a small bulge in Jace's shorts as well. Feeling a little less self-conscious, Finn patted the spot on the bed beside him, and Jace slid in, laying on his side so he was inches from Finn's face. "You smell good," he whispered, nuzzling Finn's nose with his own. "Please tell me if I'm doing something wrong, or if I'm going too fast. I really don't know what I'm doing. This just feels really… I don't know, right." He pulled Finn in closer, so that their chests and hips were touching.

"Of course. But so far this has been totally zang tops, man." Finn found himself yawning, suddenly very tired. He curled up into Jace's arms, placing his head near Jace's chest so that his partner's chin rested on Finn's forehead. "Jace, I'm gonna take a little nap now."

Jace smiled, kissing Finn on the top of his head. "Me too. But if you wake up in the middle of the night and want some more kissing, I'd be totally down for that."

Finn smiled, relaxing and succumbing to sleep. Not long after, Jace followed suit, his breathing synchronized with Finn's.


	7. Touch Me Gently

After a few hours of resting, Finn woke up feeling refreshed and comfortably warm. He grinned, listening to Jace's soft breathing, and carefully rolled over onto his side so he could see his partner. Jace was laying on his back, his chest slowly rising and falling and his warm glow pulsing with each breath.

After a while, Finn began to feel butterflies in his stomach, and a strange tightness in his throat. The lure of Jace's skin was intoxicating, and Finn gently lifted Jace's shirt, sliding his hand across the flame boy's stomach as lightly as possible. After double checking that Jace was still asleep, he began to get less light with his touch, exploring his abs and belly. Jace had a well-defined six pack, and a small trail of fire-hair leading down from his bellybutton to his shorts. His heartbeat quickening, Finn worked his hand lower, sliding back and forth across Jace's hot skin until he was right on the waistline of the black shorts Jace was wearing as pajamas.

Finn swallowed. He knew what he was doing was wrong and inappropriate, but his body seemed to be acting on its own, slipping one finger under the waistband, then two, as Finn explored Jace's hips and upper thighs. His hand worked its way deeper into Jace's shorts, until Finn found Jace's… _oh, it's really big!_ thought Finn, his hand sliding gently over Jace's thick shaft. He gently slid one finger along the length, from bottom to tip, feeling Jace harden and grow beneath his hand.

Suddenly the full realization of what he was doing hit Finn, and he gently pulled his hand out, silently cursing himself. _If Jace knew what I was doing, he'd never speak to me again!_

"Don't stop," said Jace softly, making Finn jump.

"Jace, uh… h-how long have you b-been awake?" Finn hid his head in Jace's chest, not wanting to look him in the eyes.

"Um… since you started rubbing my belly. But don't stop, what you were just doing felt really really good."

Finn looked up at Jace, his face flushed with embarrassment. "B-but that's your… y'know, your stuff. Your personal man-biz."

Jace smiled. "So? If we're going to be together, we share our biz."

"Are you sure?" Finn asked, caressing Jace's cheek.

Jace nodded, and gently grabbed Finn's hand and pulled it down toward his groin. "What you were doing… It felt right. Like… like this is how it's supposed to work with guys and guys."

Finn grinned, his face still bright red, and slipped his hand into Jace's shorts again, wrapping his fingers around his length.

"Mmm… I like it when you squeeze." Finn gave Jace a firm squeeze, feeling him get bigger and harder in his hand. He slid his hand up and down Jace's length, rubbing his thumb over the tip and making Jace shiver in excitement. "Hold on, this will make it easier…" Jace quickly slid his shorts off, then pulled off his shirt. Finn involuntarily gasped. Seeing Jace completely naked filled his head with an exciting buzz and blotting out logic and sense.

"But now we're not equal…" Jace observed, indicating to Finn that he should remove his pajamas as well.

"B-but… I'm not as pretty as you. I-I mean, handsome. I'm all lumpy and fat." Finn frowned, letting go of Jace and curling into himself.

Jace rolled closer to Finn, gently kissing him on the lips. "I think you're beautiful. And you're not fat."

"Y-you… really?" Jace nodded, and Finn, his whole body pumping with endorphins and hormones, pulled off his pajamas, still keeping his underwear on. He could see in the soft glow of Jace's body that he was also was hard and stiff, the elastic of his underwear stretched taught.

Jace breathed in deeply, wrapping his hand around Finn through his underwear and tugging gently. "Nnn…" Finn moaned, squirming with excitement and pleasure. He rocked his hips into Jace's hand, causing friction and eliciting a moan from Jace. "Oh glob…" He closed his eyes, focusing on Jace's touch and motion. A euphoric, ballooning sensation spread through his chest, causing him to gasp and reach out for Jace's body.

Finn rolled over and climbed on top of Jace, straddling his legs so their hips rubbed together, Jace against Finn through his underwear. Closing his eyes and breathing in deeply, Jace rocked his hips forward, sliding against Finn and making them both gasp and moan. Finn leaned down and kissed Jace, hard and deep. Jace moaned, opening his mouth and inviting Finn's tongue in.

Finn had never used his tongue in a kiss before, so at first he was a little unsure, confused. Quickly, though, he warmed up to the motion, gently exploring Jace's mouth and caressing his partner's tongue. He rocked his hips hard against Jace as he began exploring more of the other with his tongue. First his lips, then his chin, and further down along his neck. "Finn… Haaaahhh…. Gnnngg" Jace moaned, his hips rocking in time with Finn's. He tilted his head backward and arched his back, inviting Finn to explore more with his tongue.

Laying down wet and sloppy kisses, Finn worked his way down along his partner's chest. Tiny flames danced across Jace's chest, forming a small patch of fire hair between his pectorals. Finn spent some time kissing up and down Jace's sternum, Jace moaning as Finn's wet kisses left temporary small, sizzling patches of darker, grayer skin.

"Doesn't that hurt?" asked Finn, noticing the pale patches where his lips and tongue had cooled off Jace's skin.

"N-no… Well, yes, but g-good hurt. Mmmm…" Jace's body spasmed slightly as Finn resumed kissing, their hips still rocking in sync. "L-like when you… O-oh! When you stretch your muscles, and it hurts, but in a g-good feeling way… Nnnnn!" Finn continued exploring his way down Jace's body, now working his way across his belly. Jace's skin was glowing brighter than ever, and Finn could feel heat radiating from his body, although he didn't feel his skin burning where they touched.

"Umm… Can I…?" Finn looked up at Jace, unsure. He had reached Jace's erection, and was licking around its base, but the large shaft rubbing against his face seemed to be begging to be in his mouth, twitching slightly at every touch.

Jace nodded, unable to speak. His eyes were ablaze with passion and arousal, and his whole body was squirming and spasming, yearning to climax. Finn grinned, licking up and down Jace before bringing his mouth down over his entire length. Jace was hot in his mouth, the tip rubbing against the back of Finn's throat. He tried not to gag as he slid up and down, instinctively sucking slightly. Finn could feel his body preparing to climax, a sensation he'd never felt before but was primally familiar with. He began moving faster, careful to avoid hitting anything with his teeth, as Jace's breathing became ragged and shallow, his own body preparing to climax as well.

Suddenly Finn felt strong arms on his shoulders. Jace lifted him with surprising strength so that he was now sitting on Jace's lap, his erection pressed firmly against Jace's. The fire boy carefully burned a hole in Finn's underwear, pulling him out so that their full lengths were touching, skin against fiery skin. The two boys wrapped their hands around both of their shafts, squeezing them together, Finn's fingers intertwined with Jace's. With his free hand, Jace ran his fingers through Finn's hair, pulling him close into a strong and deep kiss. Slowly at first, then faster, they moved up and down along their erections, squeezing them together as hard as they could.

"I'm… I'm… I'm gonna… gonna… Oohhhhohhhhoooohhhhh!" Finn climaxed first, sending his fluid all over their chests, causing small sizzling grey spots to appear on Jace. A moment later, Jace climaxed as well, bright orange liquid spraying high between them, covering their chests and chins. As he climaxed, all of the candles in the room burst into flame, illuminating the two boys with warm, soft light.

For a moment, they just sat there, Finn on Jace's lap, both breathing heavily. Jace wrapped both of his arms around Finn, pulling him close and burying his head in Finn's shoulder. Finn could feel Jace's body cooling down, his glow returning to its normal brightness as the candles in the room slowly went out.

"Finn…" Jace murmured into his shoulder, still breathing heavily. "That was… absolutely amazing. I don't know why it took me so long to see it…" He lifted his head and looked deep into Finn's bright blue eyes. "I love you."

"I-I love you too, Jace. I wanna be with you… Please stay here. In Ooo." Jace nodded, kissing Finn gently on his nose.

"There's nowhere else I'd rather be." He pulled Finn with him as he lay down in the bed. Finn rolled over so he was spooning with Jace, his back against the other's chest.

"Mmm… I like this. We fit together." Finn wiggled his butt a little against Jace, who pressed his face against Finn's shoulder in return. They both breathed deeply, Finn noticing that Jace's scent had changed slightly from his arousal, now a little sweeter and saltier.

"Yeah, we sure do." Jace yawned. "Ugh, I'm all wound up now. There's no way I'm getting back to sleep. I blame you," he said, tapping Finn on the arm.

"Hey, no fair!" whined Finn, smiling. "I know, I'll sing you to sleep."

"You'll what?"

Finn began humming, then sang,

_Don't be weepy sleepy puppies._

_Slip your slippers on your footies._

_In the morning you'll get goodies;_

_Puppy hats and puppy hoodies._

Jace yawned, curling his legs against Finn's.

_No stripes or polk-a-dots;_

_Heather grey and feather soft,_

_Baby pink or baby blue..._

Finn wrapped one of his legs around Jace's, and sighed contently.

_All the draw strings you can chew._

The two boys nodded off to sleep together, Finn curled securely against Jace.

* * *

Princess Bubblegum rubbed her eyes. It was nearly three in the morning, and she had just completed the formula for Flame Prince's stabilizing serum. She absentmindedly stroked her pet candy corn rat Science.

"This ought to force mitosis in his hemo-ganoids, at least for a little while." She yawned, stretching her arms. "C'mon, Science. Time for us both to get some sleeps." She picked up Science and carried him to his cupboard. "Nighty night!" After changing into her pajamas, she picked up the taliform stone and carried it over to her bed. "No place safer in all the Candy Kingdom than right here, with me." She placed it under her pillow, then curled up and tried to fall asleep. The delicious scent of Marceline's old band t-shirt lulled her toward slumber, and her mind drifted back to the day when she had gotten the shirt, a replacement for a similar shirt she had sold to Maja, the sky witch. No matter how much she wore this shirt, nor how many times she washed it, it always seemed to have Marceline's scent. She sighed contently, enjoying the musty, savory smell.

Suddenly, a loud POP jolted her awake. "Whoa, what!?" She sat up and looked around. Her royal bedchamber had disappeared, and been replaced by a dark cave. Marceline's cave, from the looks of it.

Princess Bubblegum stood and paced back and forth a few times on the wooden dock, shivering in the damp of the cave. Finally succumbing to her frustration, she pocketed the small stone she held in her hand and knocked on the pale purple door. _This house has always looked out of place here_, she thought to herself.

"Who is it?" said a grumpy voice from behind the door.

"It's Princess Bubblegum, open up please!"

The door opened, and Marceline, the vampire queen, stepped out, leaning against the door jamb. "Bonnibel?"

"I hope I didn't wake you up. I know you don't really have a set sleep schedule."

Marceline shrugged. "No probs, I was just noodling around on my bass."

Princess Bubblegum smiled faintly. She knew that Marceline's tussled hair, squinty eyes, and pajamas meant she had indeed just woken up, but the unflusterable vampire queen would never admit that. "Could you do me a favor?"

Marceline smirked. "Of course, Bonbons. What up?"

Princess Bubblegum frowned, crossing her arms. "Don't call me Bonbons."

"Why? You don't like it? Hmm? Bonbons? You don't like it when I call you Bonbons?" Marceline poked Princess Bubblegum in the belly teasingly, tickling her. "Bonnie bon bon bons bonnie bons!"

Laughing and gasping for air, Princess Bubblegum gave in. "Ok, Ok, call me Bonbons! Just stop… ahaha… stop tickling me." She gently pushed Marceline away.

"Fine. What's up?"

"Marceline, I need you to fly me back to the Candy Kingdom."

"What? But you just got here!"

"I know, but it was an accident. I didn't meant to."

"So… you accidentally, without meaning to, travelled half-way across Ooo in the middle of the night and climbed the forty foot cliff to get into the cave?"

Princess Bubblegum sighed. "Not exactly." She pulled out the small stone and showed it to Marceline. "Do you know what this is?"

"It's a rock… and it's not pink. Oh Bonnie, I'm glad to see you branching out to new color palettes!"

"No, it's a taliform." Marceline gasped. "So you know what that is?"

Marceline sighed. "Come on in, we're gonna need to talk." Princess Bubblegum followed Marceline into the house, a little confused. "So… before you say anything, I didn't know how it worked at your party. I totes didn't mean to use it."

"What?"

"Remember, your five hundredth birthday party? I kinda crashed the party in the middle of the toast?"

"Oh yeah…!"

"That was the Taliform. I didn't realize how it worked back then, I was just playing with it and writing in my journal and BLAM-O, there I was in the middle of your party. I'm supes sorry I never told you about that."

"Uh… Marcy? This isn't _your_ Taliform."

"Bonbons, there's only one Taliform that survived the Great Mushroom War. I got it from pops, it's how he met my mom, a long time ago. I didn't think I'd ever see it again, though, not after Ash hocked it for some lame-o cookbook."

"Marcy…" Princess Bubblegum rubbed her tired eyes. "This is a taliform from another universe, from Ice King's fictional alternate dimension."

"Say what now?" Princess Bubblegum sat next to Marceline on her uncomfortable couch and proceeded to explain the events of the past few days.

"…Then, once I finished the serum formula, I went to bed and ended up here. There must be some sort of trans-dimensional instability in the taliform's magic manifold."

Marceline giggled. "Or you were thinking about me in your sleep and transported here…" She stuck out her fangs and wiggled her eyebrows. "To your true love."

"Can it, Marceline. It was a bug, a fluke of dimension hopping. There's no such thing as true love, at least not in this dimension."

"What!?" Marceline floated up off of the couch and moved to be face to face with Princess Bubblegum. "But… but I'm your… then why'd it work for me on your 500th birthday party?"

"I dunno, you said you just writing and it… BLAM-Oed, and there you were. Sounds pretty non-true-love-ish to me."

"Bonnie, I was writing about _you!_ About… about how I felt about you." She blushed, an impressive accomplishment for someone with no blood flow. "How I still do." She grabbed Princess Bubblegum's hand and placed it on her chest, right over her unbeating heart. "So, Ms. Logic, I was thinking about you, and BLAM, I was at your party. You were sleeping, probably thinking about me, and ZAP, here you are. And what about that Flame Prince dude? Sounds pretty true-love-ish to me."

"Marcy, he was transported to a random spot in the grass lands."

"Nope, he was transported to a very specific spot. The Tree Fort, isn't that what you said? Ever wonder why Finn has so much trouble with girls?"

Princess Bubblegum gasped. "You mean…!?"

Marceline squeezed Bubblegum's hand. "Just sayin', all the facts seem to point to true love."

"Fine, whatever." Princess Bubblegum stood, pushing past Marceline. "Please take me back to the Candy Kingdom."

Marceline sighed. "Bonbons, please. Remember when we messed around in the past? How good that felt?" She floated close to Princess Bubblegum, wrapping her pale arms around Bubblegum's waist. "I've never felt that way about anyone else. Ever. Like, in my entire life-ish thing. Please… at least stay the night. I can take you back to the Candy Kingdom in the morning."

Princess Bubblegum turned around, placing her arms around Marceline's neck and pulling her into a hug, surprising her. Marceline patted her back, pulling her close as she felt tears drip onto her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Marcy. Sometimes I get so caught up in being a princess that I forget to be a friend."

"I totes understand," she said softly. "Hold on!" She wrapped her arms tightly around Princess Bubblegum and flew up through the hole in the ceiling to her bedroom.

"Weee!" squealed Bubblegum. "I forget how much fun flying can be, at least without a giant rainicorn beneath me."

"Bombs away!" said Marceline, dropping Bubblegum a few feet onto her bed. "Incoming!" She drifted down until she was hovering inches from Bubblegum's face. "Now, gimme some sugar…" She puckered her lips and closed her eyes, waiting. Nothing. She opened her eyes.

"OK, I'm not kissing you until you come up with a better line. For reals. You've been using that one for the past three hundred and fifty years."

"Ugh, fine. Umm… Hmm… Nope, I've got nothing."

Princess Bubblegum giggled. "Oh, alright. C'mere." She wrapped her arms around Marceline's neck and pulled her closer, kissing her on the lips. "You know I love you, right?" she asked, pulling back.

Marceline smiled. "Only as much as I love you. My heart may not beat, but you make me feel alive." She pecked Princess Bubblegum on the nose.

"You're a cheese queen," muttered Bubblegum. The two of them undressed down to their panties and curled up in the bed, Marceline floating a few inches above Princess Bubblegum, her hair pulled back into a pony tail. "Good night, my love."

"Good night, Bonbons." Marceline ran her fingers across Bubblegum's chest, and dropped a few inches lower, laying lightly on top of her friend.


	8. Love Me

Jace woke up first, a smile on his face. He looked over at Finn in the dim morning light, admiring his new companion. Finn had rolled onto his back at some point in the middle of the night, and his long blond hair was strewn across his face, fluttering slightly as he breathed. Jace made a small 'whooshing' sound with his mouth, and a couple candles on Finn's bedside table burst into flame. Jace spent some time just looking at Finn, trying to burn every detail into his mind. Finn's nose was small and rounded, and his lips were a beautiful soft pink. Although a couple of his teeth were missing, every time he smiled his wide, toothy smile Jace's heart would flutter. Finn's chest was smooth and hairless, and his pecs and shoulders were covered in a smattering of small scars and bruises. A newer-looking scar wrapped around his arm, just above his elbow, as if his arm had been severed and grew back. His stomach was a little on the chubby side, but Jace still found it adorable.

"Good morning, sir." Finn smiled, catching Jace off-guard.

"Oh, you're awake. Did I wake you?"

Finn shook his head. "Naw, you're good." He rolled over onto his side, and wrapped his arms around Jace, pulling him close. "You smell good. All toasty and stuff."

Jace smiled, brushing the hair out of Finn's face. "You too. What's the plan for today?"

Finn gave Jace a small peck on his lips. "Well, I thought I'd show you how to tie a sling for your new sword, and maybe we can go over to the Fire Kingdom. Y'know, so you can check it out and see what it's like." Thunder rumbled outside, and Jace instinctively curled into Finn, a knee-jerk reaction to any sign of rain. "On second thought, maybe we'll spend the day inside and play some video games."

"Yeah, I'd like that. Are there any of those coal briquettes left? I'm a little hungry." Finn nodded, and, after briefly stretching his arms, rolled out of bed. "Oh, uh… Your… um…"

Finn looked down, and noticed that his underwear had almost completely disintegrated from their nighttime activities. His face turned deep red, and he covered himself with his hands. "Sorry! I forgot that… yeah. Uh…" He quickly grabbed a new pair of underwear, and ran backwards into the bathroom, trying to cover himself.

Jace burst out laughing. "Finn, don't worry! You've nothing to be ashamed of." He stood and stretched, looking for the shorts he had cast off earlier. After locating them, he folded them carefully and placed them back on the dresser, then walked over to the bathroom door.

"Well, I didn't-" Finn was cut off as he came out of the bathroom and walked straight into Jace, who quickly pulled him into a deep kiss. After flailing his arms in surprise, Finn wrapped them around Jace's back and neck, kissing him back. "Mmm…" he moaned into the kiss. "Uh… Jace? You're naked," Finn said, breaking the kiss.

"Yep!" Jace responded, rubbing his nose gently against Finn's cheek. "Is that a bad thing?"

"N-no, but… Jake or BMO could walk in at any time!" Jace quickly let go of Finn.

"Oh my grosh, you're right! I totally forgot!" Blushing, Jace grabbed the shorts he had placed on the dresser earlier and quickly put them on, then slipped into the baggy beige shirt he had worn the night before.

* * *

Downstairs, Finn made Jace a bowl of coal briquettes, garnished with sawdust and a drizzle of olive oil. BMO sat on the table, watching the two boys.

"Hey, Beems, what's up?"

"Finn, you have mail."

"Email? Shweet, read it out!"

"No, Finn. Mail."

Finn raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Like, mail mail? Actual paper mail?"

"Yes, Finn."

"Huh." He looked at Jace. "I didn't even know we had a mail box!"

* * *

After retrieving the mail, Finn scrambled some eggs and sat next to Jace, their legs touching, and read the mail out loud as they both ate.

"This one's from PB. 'Dear Finn and Flame Prince… duh duh duh… I have completed the formula for Flame Prince's stabilizing serum… duh duh duh duh… Possibility of negative side effects… blah blah… 65% chance of success… Coming by tonight to drop it off… Signed, PB.' Nice! Your meds are all gooped up, she's coming by this evening to drop them off." Jace smiled, rubbing Finn's leg. "Next one is from Jake… huh. Let's see. 'Yo Finn and FP. Sorry to disappear like this, but Ethel Rainicorn cracked her horn yesterday, and is stuck in bed for the week while she heels. Lady and I are gonna spend some time over at their place to help out while she recovers. PS, chickens make awesome pillows.'

Jace grinned, leaning close to Finn. "So we've got the whole house to us for the week?"

BMO hopped up and down. "BMO is still here! I live here too! Also Neptr and Shelby!"

"Of course, BMO," said Finn, picking up BMO. "But you don't sleep in the bedroom. Actually… Do you sleep at all?"

"I put new batteries in my butt. Sometimes, I pretend to sleep so I can surprise you or Jake with BMO-chop." BMO squinted at Finn. "BMO is the tree house guardian."

"…Right." Finn placed BMO back on the table, and picked up the last letter. The envelope felt new and clean, unlike most paper goods found in Ooo. "OK, last letter… Oh. This one's for you, Jace."

"Me?" Jace took the envelope and opened it, pulling out the letter. "It's from Fionna."

Finn frowned, rubbing Jace's arm. "Should… Should I let you read this on your own?"

"No, it's OK." Jace read the letter quietly, his expression unreadable.

'Hey Flame Prince. It's Fionna. Thank you for letting me know where you are, I was a little worried. I'm glad you're safe, though. I would like to formally apologize for all of the fights we had. Cake kept warning me that you and I probably weren't compatible, what with all of our disagreements, and I was stupid to ignore her. I'm sorry. I wish we could have broken off on better terms, so you wouldn't have been so hurt. You were my friend before anything else, and I hope we can continue to be friends. I would really enjoy continuing to be pen-pals, if you'd like. If you happen to run into Finn, say 'hi' for me. I wish you the best of luck finding someone you can be with, and remember that I will always be your friend. Signed, Fionna.' An inky paw print indicated that Cake had signed it too.

"Are ya gonna be alright?" Finn asked, holding Jace's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Jace nodded. "Yeah… It's weird. I mean, I'm here with you and all, and I love you, but… I dunno, I still miss her."

Finn smiled sadly. "Yeah, I know. It'd be weird if you didn't. I still miss Flame Princess, even though I love you." He gave Jace a small kiss on the cheek. "Us peeps are weird that way."

"You two are strange like love birds," muttered BMO, hopping down from the table.

* * *

After finishing breakfast, Finn left Jace in the living room while he went downstairs to find some leather, promising Jace to show him how to make a sword sling. Jace sat on the couch, smiling happily and idly conjuring small flames on his finger tips.

BMO walked in to the room, and hopped up on the coffee table.

"Oh, hey BMO."

"BMO has something to tell you," said BMO, glaring at Jace.

"Uh… OK?"

"I see you and Finn are in love." Jace blushed, suddenly wishing Finn would hurry up and return. "Finn is very special. Do not hurt him. If you break Finn's heart, BMO will get revenge. Also, you must call BMO 'sensei'. That is all."

"Um… sure."

BMO hopped down from the table and walked backward out of the room, keeping its eyes on Jace.

"That was weird…" muttered Jace as Finn climbed up the ladder into the den.

"Hey-o! I got me some dragon hide leather. Check it!" He handed Jace a piece of dark purple leather and sat down next to him. "OK, sweedles. Have you ever made shoelace before?" Jace shook his head. "Well, it's bonkers simple." Finn pulled a small knife from a shelf behind the couch, and carefully cut a thin strip around the outside edge of the leather. "See, you just basically cut a spiral in the stuff, then it's like a ribbon when you straighten it out. Try it yourself!"

Finn handed the knife to Jace, who did his best to imitate Finn's action. Despite holding the knife as steady as possible, his leather strip still ended up wavy, with some pieces much thicker than others. He held up his strip and frowned at Finn.

"Hey, dude, don't worry. It's your first time! 'Sides, it give it 'character'." Jace smiled a little.

"OK, so how do you make the sling thing?"

"First we need a pattern. I got the Pagelings to make me a bunch of templates a few years ago." Finn pulled out a couple sheets of paper with dotted lines on them. "Just stick this to the leather, and cut along the lines. Oh, but first you need about four feet of the lace. So cut a few more spirals."

Finn and Jace worked, side by side, for the next few minutes, cutting their leather and sharing the knife, giggling occasionally as they chatted, brushing elbows and blushing. Soon they each had their piles of cut leather on the table and the floor was littered with small scraps and mess-ups.

"Neat! Now what?" Jace asked, trying to figure out how all of the pieces of leather fit together.

"Now we punch a few holes and do a kind of origami thing…" He showed Jace how to use an old railroad spike as an awl, and helped Jace fold the leather together into something that resembled a very thin backpack, complete with shoulder straps and a draw string. "And then, just use glue to hold this last piece in place, and now everything is all stucked together."

"Stucked?"

"Yeah, double passed-tense of stick"

"…Right" Jace smirked at Finn, who stuck out his tongue in response.

"And it's all done! Try it out, dude!" Jace ran and grabbed his crystal sword, and slipped it into its new leather sheath. "Nice!" Finn gave Jace a big high five.

"This is great! I didn't know you could carry swords around like this. I thought they had to be kept in scabbards."

"Y'mean those belt-loop holdy things?"

Jace nodded. "Yeah. I thought that was the only way to do it. This is great, though! It won't be clanging against my legs or anything."

Finn's eyes grew wide. _…Thought that was the only way to do it… the only way…_ The words echoed in his head, and he breathed in heavily.

"Whoa, dude. Are you OK?"

Finn leaned forward a little, catching his breath. "Yeah, sorry. I've kinda got a brain-thing dealie with those words."

"What words? Clanging? Scabbard? What did I say?" Jace looked a little hurt, as if he had accidentally injured Finn.

"No no no! It's fine, really! It's just… you said 'the only way'."

"Yeah…?"

Finn sighed, and sat down. "Well, a few years ago, Jake hired these zonkers clown nurses to help us recover after we both broke our ankles."

"You both broke your ankles?" Jace asked, sitting next to Finn.

"Yeah, we tried jumping off of a bird. Erm… Sometimes I don't think all the way through things before I do them. I've been working on that… yeah, not important. Anyways, the clown nurses were all up in my biz, smoochin' on my foot!"

"Eww."

"Exactly! They said it was the only way to 'foo-foo my boo-boo", whatever that means. But I got all whacked out over it, and decided to do it 'my way'. I ended up finding a cyclops with magic tears that could heal anything, but now, every time I hear the words 'it's the only way', I get all weird and bunked up."

"Oh." Jace rubbed Finn's cheek carefully. "Well, I promise I won't say those words again."

"Aww, you don't have to do that."

"So? I love you, I'm not gonna do something that bunks you up."

Finn wrapped his arms around Jace and pulled him close into a soft kiss. "I love you too."

* * *

As Jace helped Finn clean up the leather scraps from the floor, a thought occurred. "Hey, Finn? What do you do with all these scraps?"

Finn scratched his head and replied, "I guess we usually just throw them away, or put them in the scrap shed. Why?"

"I've got an idea for something I'd like to make out of these."

"Oh? What is it?"

Jace grinned at Finn, patting him on the head. "It's a secret. A surprise for you."

"Hmm…" Finn tapped his chin, wondering.

* * *

After they had cleaned up, the two boys grabbed some snacks and cleared a space on the large couch to watch a movie on BMO. "Howsabout… 'Something In The Snow'… 'Racing for Rubies'… 'Sharktacular'? Naw, I hate sharks. Hmm… 'The White Arrow'… 'Twilight', I thought we burned that one… Oh, here's a good one!" Finn pulled an old video cassette tape from the bookshelf. "Johnny Nockred: International Sabotage"

Jace bounced up and down excitedly. "What's it about? I've never heard of that one."

"What!? It's bizonkers amazing. Nockred is this super spy, who's secretly a double spy, pretending to be a triple spy, and he has to seduce the president's sister, who pretends to be a quadruple spy, but is really just a regular single spy. Oh, and they're both trying to get the secret codes for this thing… I won't spoil it, but there's a big twist."

Jace pumped his fist in the air. "That sounds epic! Let's watch that one!"

"Whoo!" Finn put the tape into BMO, and sat down next to Jace. Waving his hand, Jace extinguished all of the candles in the room, so that the only light was from BMO's display and the dark, stormy sky outside the window. Jace laid down so his head was in Finn's lap, and Finn worked his fingers into Jace's soft flame hair, massaging his head.

As the screen faded in on a flying shot of a large metropolis, thunder cracked outside of the treehouse windows. Jace let out a terrified squeak and curled into a small ball, clutching Finn tightly. "Aww, you afraid of the rain?" Finn asked softly.

Jace nodded. "I know I'm safe here, but… Y'know, being a fire elemental and all, water is scary."

"Have you ever, like, gone swimming or anything?" Finn asked.

"No, that could kill me!" He shuddered at the very thought.

"Oh yeah. Well, I promise I'll keep you dry. Always and forever." Finn leaned down and kissed Jace on the lips, holding him securely in his arms.

* * *

_"Samantha… I love you. But I must kill you, for you are the only one who can stop the bomb."_

_"No, Johnny. You can not kill me. For I am not really Samantha. I'm actually… Carol, the homely receptionist."_

_"Carol!"_

_"And I can not love you back. For my heart belongs to another… Chad."_

_"But Chad is my cover! I am Chad. And I love you, Carol!"_

_"Oh, Johnny!"_

As the credits began to roll, Finn noticed Jace curling up into a ball, clutching him tightly. At first he thought it was from the booming thunder, so Finn just held him tightly and kept massaging his scalp. But as the movie ended and BMO began rewinding the tape, Finn noticed that Jace was shaking, barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Jace!? Are you alright?"

"Hnnnggg… It hurts…" Jace spasmed, clutching his chest.

Finn let out a surprised yelp, suddenly very worried about his friend. Supporting Jace's head with his hand, Finn leaned close. "What hurts? Tell me where. Please, Jace!"

Jace's face contorted with pain. "Nnnnnggg… Everywhere… chest, arms, legs, stomach… Finn, what's happening!?"

Finn struggled to help Jace into a sitting position, and grabbed a nearby kerosine lamp. Ripping the wick out, he held it up to Jace's lips. "Here, drink this, it's flammable."

Jace took a sip, then immediately spat it back out. "Ugh, it's… I don't know, I can't drink it."

Finn began panicking, completely lost as to what to do. Jace looked to be on the verge of passing out from pain, and Finn was no doctor. "Jace, I love you. But we're gonna have to go outside in the rain. We need to get you to a hospital."

"Nnn…no! I could d-die!" Jace grasped at Finn's shirt. "P-please… don't let me get wet…"

Finn began breathing heavily as his eyes brimmed with tears, now in full panic mode.

With a loud crash of thunder and a bright flash of lightning, the front door of the tree house flew open, and Jake ran in, soaking wet. "Hey, Finn! You'll never guess whose girlfriend realized that Ethel's horn could be fixed with some epoxy and duct tape! That's right, this guy!" Jake pointed at himself proudly, then noticed Finn hunched over a pale and violently shaking Flame Prince. "Oh jeeze, this looks bad." He quickly stretched over to Finn and Jace. "What's going on?"

"Jake, I think he's dying!"

"Say what now!?"

"Can you stretch us to the Candy Kingdom hospital while keeping him dry? He can't get wet or he'll get all janked up."

"I can and I will. Hold on!" Jake stretched his body out into a large yellow ambulance, and Finn carefully carried Jace into the back. "CK Hospital, pronto!" yelled Jake, peeling out of the treehouse and across the stormy grasslands.

"You'll be OK, I promise," whispered Finn, holding Flame Prince in his arms.

"F-Finn…" Jace whispered, his voice hoarse and weak. "Sigh… Sych… Cycle…" His head lolled back as he passed out.


	9. Save Me

Finn rocked back and forth in his seat in the emergency room waiting area, clutching his knees to his chest. Jake rubbed his back reassuringly.

"If anyone can help him, it's Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess," Jake said softly.

"I can't… I can't let anything bad happen to him! I promised! I promised…"

Jake sighed. "Look, dude. I know he's your friend and all, but there's only so much you can do."

Finn looked up at Jake with watery eyes. "Don't say that. Please, don't say that! You'll mess me up. He's gonna be alright. Please, glob, let him be alright!"

Finn stood as Princess Bubblegum walked into the waiting area. She looked tired and stressed, her hair frazzled and the skin under her eyes baggy. "Finn, I've got good news and I've got bad news. Which do you-"

Finn grabbed the ears on his hat and pulled, trying to relieve some of the tension in his body. "Gimme bad news first!"

Princess Bubblegum sighed. "Like I said a few days ago, this universe is toxic to Flame Prince. His elemental matrix just doesn't work in Ooo. I thought my stabilization serum might help that, but it doesn't seem to be doing much. We're pumping him full of it right now, but it's only lessening the pain. His matrix is still unstable."

Finn grabbed Princess Bubblegum's lab coat lapels. "What does that mean!? Is he gonna be OK?"

"Please, Finn," said Princess Bubblegum, pulling herself from Finn's grasp. "Our only option is to collapse his elemental matrix waveform and extract it from his body."

"Hold on, sister." Jake stood and joined Finn and PB. "So he's not going to be a fire guy any more?"

"Well, that's the good news. Sort of. Finn, Jake is right. If we collapse his matrix waveform, he won't be a fire elemental. He'll just be a… I don't even know. A wizard without powers. Not quite a human, but a humanoid. It should stabilize him, though."

"OK…"

"But, Finn, we don't want to do the procedure without your consent. Flame Prince said he trusts you to make any medical decisions for him."

"He's awake?" Finn shouted, waving his arms in the air.

"He woke up for a few moments when we first hooked up his IV for the serum. He said you would know what to do. Then he muttered something about a 'psych law' and passed out. We've given him a sedative so his body can relax a little."

"Oh… OK. Well, go ahead, do the converty-dealie. Anything to save him. Oh, and Princess? His name is Jace, not Flame Prince."

PB nodded and left.

"Yo, Finn. There's something going on here," said Jake, crossing his arms. "You were less mooped out over Billy's death. What the stuff?"

Finn sat down on the cold linoleum floor, his back against the row of chairs along one wall. "I… I love him. I love him, Jake. I want him to be my boyfriend. I want him to be here, with me, always and forever. He came to Ooo to find his true love… And I think that's me. I'm in love with Jace."

Jake put his arm around Finn's shoulders. "Then we're going to make sure he gets through this."

Finn sniffed. "Y-you're not… like, weirded out or anything? That I love a guy?"

"Finn, I'm a magical stretchy dog in love with a flying rainbow with a unicorn horn. Love is blind, man, I told ya."

* * *

Almost an hour later, Princess Bubblegum returned to the waiting room, this time accompanied by Dr. Princess.

"Finn…" Finn stood, shaking a little with nerves, as Dr. Princess addressed him. "Finn, he's not doing well. We've removed his elemental matrix, but all of his internal organs are failing."

Princess Bubblegum knelt down and placed a hand on Finn's shoulder. "He's awake right now, but he's very weak, and a little loopy from the anesthesia. But he asked for you, he wants to see you."

His whole body shaking, Finn followed Princess Bubblegum into Jace's room. Jace was laying on a white bed, clothed in a hospital gown, and his fire hair had gone out. His skin was pale and gray, and the skin around his eyes drooped. Finn felt a dagger of ice through his heart, seeing Jace in this condition. He ran over to Jace's bed, and carefully held his hand.

"Finn…" he said weakly, running his thumb over the back of Finn's hand.

"I'm here, Jace, I'm here," said Finn, tears streaming down his face.

"Tall… Taller" His voice was weak and scratchy.

"Tall? Jace, it's me, Finn!"

"Finn… Taller… Horn…"

"Oh, Jace…" Finn sobbed, squeezing his hand. "Jace, I don't know what you're saying, but I'm here, and I'm not letting go."

"Taller… Tali… form."

"Taliform? Taliform!" Finn spun around to face Princess Bubblegum. "Peebs, the rock. The taliform that he used to get here. Can you use it to send him back? He'll be OK in Aaa, right?"

Princess Bubblegum turned to Dr. Princess, and the two took a moment whispering back and forth. Finally, PB turned to Finn. "Yes, he'd probably be able to make a full recovery if he was back in his universe. He might even regain his elemental matrix, I don't know. But, since it sounds like he no longer has a home in Aaa, I'd have to build a device to induce the transportation. It would probably destroy the rock. But yes, he'd be back in Aaa and would probably make a full recovery. But you'd never get to see him again. The pathway between Aaa and Ooo would be closed when the Taliform is destroyed."

"Do it," said Finn with determination. "Send him back. His life is more important than my love."

"Nnn…" moaned Jace from behind Finn. "Nnno…"

Finn turned around and grabbed Jace's hand again. "Jace, we have to do this. I love you, but if you died… I don't even want to think about it. We're sending you back to Aaa."

"Nnno…"

Finn shushed him, leaning close and planting one last kiss on his lips. "I'll always love you, my prince."

"No… Other… Way…" whispered Jace.

Finn's eyes grew wide. He could hear the blood pumping in his ears, blotting out all other sounds. _Jace didn't say 'psych law', he was trying to say 'cyclops'._ Finn turned to Princess Bubblegum, who was holding the Taliform and measuring it with a pair of calipers.

"PrincessBubblegumGivemetherockIknowhowtocurehim!" shouted Finn, making everyone in the room jump. Without waiting for her to respond, Finn grabbed the rock out of PB's hands, squeezing it as hard as he could while visualizing his tree fort.

With a popping sound, Finn disappeared from the hospital room. Opening his eyes, he found he was standing in his bedroom in the tree fort. "I'm coming, Jace!" shouted Finn to the empty room, running into the bathroom. He yanked open the mirror over the sink, nearly rending it from the hinges, and grabbed a large glass bottle with a clear, slightly blueish liquid in it. Holding it in his right hand, he squeezed the rock in his left and thought of Jace, of the night they spent together in bed, of the time they spent adventuring in the forest, of sitting with him by the scrap shed and just talking. There was a popping sound, and Finn found himself back in the hospital by Jace's bed.

"Finn, what is that?" asked Dr. Princess as Finn removed the stopper of the bottle and gently helped Jace drink the liquid inside. Finn didn't respond until Jace had finished the entire bottle.

"Cyclops tears," he responded as he climbed into the bed and laid next to Jace, holding his partner tightly.

"Don't be ridiculous. Cyclopses don't cry," scoffed Princess Bubblegum. "And even if they did, there aren't any cyclops left."

"Yes they do and yes there are," replied Finn resolutely. "And this one has magic healing properties in its tears. Cured my foot, my cuts and bruises, even fixed my dirty torn-up shirt!"

Jace moaned, his body twitching a little.

"Finn, there's no panacea. Nothing can cure everything." Dr. Princess picked up the empty bottle and shook it at Finn, trying to enforce her point.

"I don't care. This is gonna work, I know it!" Finn hugged Jace close to him as color began to return to his cheeks.

"Uhnn… F-Finn?" Jace moaned, his body revitalizing. "Finn?"

"Jace! You're back! I knew you'd make it!" Finn rolled over so he was straddling Jace, and began kissing him all over his face, oblivious to the other people in the room.

"Finn, stop," gasped Jace, giggling. "You're making me blush!"

* * *

After prying Finn off of him, Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess ran a full checkup on Jace, confirming that he was in good health.

"Well, I don't believe it, but you're good to go," muttered Dr. Princess, looking a little put out. "Your vitals are all in the green, you don't seem to have suffered any brain or liver damage, and you're obviously alive."

"Thanks!" said Jace, hopping down from the hospital bed.

"Uh… Dude? You… uh…" Finn blushed, trying to get Jace's attention.

"What?" he said, turning around.

"Um… Your hospital gown is open in the back."

"Oh!" Jace blushed too, looking around for his pants.

Princess Bubblegum and Dr. Princess exchanged glances. "You two can show yourselves out. We've got… uh… other patients to deal with." They left the room in a hurry, both clearly feeling awkward.

"Glob!" shouted Finn, hugging Jace. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Me too," whispered Jace, closing his eyes and breathing in Finn's scent. "Did you use the cyclops tears?"

"Yeah," said Finn. "Good call on that." He gave Jace's butt a little squeeze.

"Hey, hands off the buns! We're not even back at the treehouse yet!" Jace laughed, batting Finn's hands away.

"Aww, but I love your buns!"

* * *

After using the Taliform to return to the tree fort, Finn sat down with Jace on the couch. "Jace, um… You may have noticed, your hair is out."

Jace nodded, running his hand over his now smooth head. "Yeah, I was wondering about that. I also can't feel any fire nearby. Usually I can sense candles and ovens and stuff."

Finn frowned, placing his hand on Jace's shoulder. "Yeah, about that… So… So yeah. At the hospital, they removed your fire powers. Somehow that was supposed to help you stay here, in Ooo."

"I lost my fire powers!?" Jace looked panicked, and quickly held up his hand, trying to conjure flames. "Oh glob! I lost my fire powers!"

"Jace, it's OK!" shouted Finn, trying to calm him. "You're just, like, a wizard now. Or something." Jace looked at Finn with sad eyes. "But I still love you!" said Finn, trying to make Jace feel better. "It was either that or send you back to Aaa."

Jace smiled sadly. "Yeah… You made the right decision. I'll just have to learn to live without my powers." Thunder rumbled outside, and Jace squeaked and curled into Finn.

Finn laughed softly. "You don't have to be afraid of the rain anymore. You're not in danger of being put out. Tomorrow, we can go swimming!"

Jace frowned, still scared of the water. "Maybe in a few days. I still need to get used to this…" He looked down at his hands, and a single tear dripped down from his eyes.

"Jace…" Finn gently guided Jace's eyes into his own. "We're gonna get through this. You're gonna be alright. And I'm gonna be here with you. Always." Jace smiled again. "But I think we've had enough excitement for today. What'dya say we call it an early evening and go to sleep?"

Jace nodded. "I'd like that very much."

Finn left a note for Jake on the kitchen counter, and led Jace up to the bedroom. They curled up in Finn's bed, Finn holding Jace securely against his chest, and they both fell asleep within minutes, worn out from the day's excitement.


End file.
